This week:
- US Solicitor General John Sauer petitions Supreme Court to expedite hearing Trump tariff case
- Now that frontloading-driven import surge has ended, US truckload market remains stuck in a rut
- Trans-Pacific carriers have a short window of time to stabilize market before potential rate collapse
- After elimination of de minimis rule, CBP authorizes providers to help USPS with duty collections
White House Asks SCOTUS to Expedite Review of Reciprocal Tariff Ruling
In a petition filed last Wednesday, Solicitor General John Sauer asked the Supreme Court of the United States to decide by September 10 whether it will hear the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower court ruling that found President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs illegal.
The White House is challenging an August 29 decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which concluded that the President exceeded his authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by imposing tariffs unilaterally.
The case began in late May, when New York-based importer and distributor VOS Selections sued President Trump in the US Court of International Trade for improperly using IEEPA to implement his reciprocal tariff policy. The court sided with VOS Selections, but allowed the tariffs to stay in place while the government appealed the case.
In a 7-4 decision, the federal appeals court upheld the trade court’s decision, but stayed its ruling until October 14 to allow the government time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In his petition, Sauer argued that an expedited resolution is necessary due to the “enormous importance of quickly confirming the full legal standing of the President’s tariffs.” White House officials are quoted in the brief saying the appeals court made an “erroneous decision,” which is disrupting sensitive international trade negotiations.
The case centers around Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which aim to neutralize trade imbalances between the US and its global partners while promoting domestic manufacturing. Other tariffs implemented by Trump are not in question, since the President was authorized under laws other than IEEPA for those duties.
After Frontloading-Driven Import Surge, US Truckload Market “Stuck in a Rut”
The US full truckload market is stuck in a three-year rut, according to William B. Cassidy, a senior editor for the Journal of Commerce (JoC). In an industry roundup published Thursday, Cassidy quotes industry experts who say demand is unlikely to pick up anytime soon.
Despite spikes in demand — including an import surge earlier this year driven by US businesses frontloading ahead of tariff deadlines — analysts say the trucking market has failed to gain any lasting traction. Short-term events like produce season temporarily tightened truck capacity and pushed up spot rates in Q3, but the market quickly settled back to its sluggish baseline each time.
While rate volatility during these spikes was higher this year than in 2023 or 2024 (potentially a sign that excess truck capacity is shrinking), it wasn’t enough to break out of a long-running market stagnation, Cassidy said. He points to the JoC’s average shipper-paid spot rate, which was $2.23 per mile in August, flat compared to July and down from August 2023.
The US long-distance truckload producer price index (PPI), which includes both spot and contract rates, was 172.7 in July, up from 170.8 in June but down from 175.8 a year ago.
“It feels like the market is stuck,” Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT Freight & Analytics, told the JoC. “We’re still seeing shippers having pricing power, which tells us there’s plenty of truck capacity.”
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Carriers Face Tough Decisions to Avert Rate Collapse on Trans-Pacific Routes
The next few weeks on the trans-Pacific trade routes will see ocean carriers faced with tough decisions as they try to avoid a rate collapse, according to an editorial by Mark Szakonyi, executive editor for the JoC.
In this short window of time, carriers must decide whether to slash capacity to match falling demand or risk customers abandoning their contracts for low spot market prices, Szakonyi said.
Container shipping rates from Asia to the US have plummeted since late May. According to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, spot rates to the US West Coast have collapsed by 65% since June, now hovering around $2,000 per FEU.
However, real-world prices are often even lower than what the Exchange shows, as some freight forwarders are quoting rates of $1,300 to $1,400 per container. In an attempt at market correction, carriers are trying to implement rate hikes of $800 to $900 per FEU, but it’s unclear if that will be possible in the current market.
Carriers have primarily relied on blank sailings to manage capacity this year. Szakonyi said they haven’t pursued more drastic measures out of concern for losing market share to smaller competitors. Ultimately, the run-up to Golden Week is the trans-Pacific carriers’ last opportunity this year to stabilize the market. If they fail to reduce capacity, shippers with higher-priced contracts will have an incentive to turn to the much cheaper spot market, Szakonyi said.
CBP Authorizes Providers to Help USPS With Post-De Minimis Duty Collections
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced last week that it has authorized third-party providers to collect and remit duties for international postal shipments. The move aims to smooth out global shipping disruptions that began after the recent elimination of the de minimis exemption.
The de minimis rule previously allowed packages valued under $800 to enter the country duty-free. The Trump administration officially ended the de minimis rule on August 29, subjecting millions of shipments to new tariffs or fees.
The abrupt change left many foreign postal operators unprepared to collect these duties, forcing several to suspend shipments to the US temporarily. The US Postal Service (USPS) and its shipping partners also initially struggled to keep up with the additional duty collections.
To resolve the issue, CBP created a list of third-party logistics and customs specialists that can calculate and remit the new duties on behalf of USPS. CBP added ten new providers, including major logistics firms like Flexport and BoxC, to the list last week. This brings the total number of qualified providers to 12.
International carriers are also adapting to the changes. For example, the UK’s Royal Mail, which had paused some services, has now launched a “delivery duty paid” system to collect US duties upfront.
