'Tariff today, gone tomorrow' taking transpac box trade to the brink
Is Trump taking us back to tramp shipping?
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A Pennsylvania-based shipper has lodged a formal complaint against two global shipping lines.
In a $600,000 lawsuit filed with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) last week, MCS Industries, a family-owned home furnishings business, claims MSC and Cosco failed to meet contractual obligations, in violation of the 1984 US Shipping Act.
MCS argues that “foreign-owned” shipping lines have: “Unjustly and unreasonably exploited customers, vastly increasing their profitability at the expense of shippers and the US public generally, which bears increased freight cost in the form ...
Comment on this article
Brian Eskenazi
August 03, 2021 at 1:59 pmIf a shipping line has contracted to carry a certain number of containers at a certain price, and has not done so, then the shipper has a right to complain.
But if a contract has been filled, and the shipping line does not wish to enter a new contract, preferring to accept new business on a spot basis only, there is no basis for a complaint.
Shippers are not entitled to service contracts or low freight rates as a matter of right.
For many years, shipping lines lost money due to over-capacity and low rates. Few shippers thought the low rates were unfair and pushed to pay more.
Some import business is dependent entirely on low freight costs and that business may no longer be viable when rates rise.
Whether that is a cause for lament is a complex subject and worthy of a separate article.
Brian Eskenazi
Skylark Company, Inc.
New York
(Skylark is a small export trading company.)