Federal Maritime Commission updates Coronavirus impact on Transpacific trade

When Carl W. Bentzel was recently appointed as a Commissioner with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, he knew that he’d face a few urgent concerns, but the Coronavirus quickly became the chief challenge FMC management. 

The maritime industry has been deeply affected as a result of the upheaval caused by the coronavirus and its impacts to Chinese manufacturing and logistics services. 

Ocean carriers have been forced to cancel services (“blanked sailings”) to and from China and the United States. The FMC has been monitoring levels of blanked sailings and conferring with ocean carrier representatives about levels of service and the potential resumption of normal trade. 

“I was heartened to hear that shipping lines have indicated that there is cargo for pickup and that trucking and port operations have substantially resumed in China,” says Bentzel.“I remain concerned that there will continue to be negative economic impacts as a result of delays, as shipments transit the Pacific from China.”

He added that he would hope that the industry resists the temptation to take actions to price gouge or otherwise unfairly leverage their position. 

“It will be necessary for all segments of the transportation industry from the marine terminals to trucking and rail services to help pitch in to secure normalcy,” declared Bentzel.

As noted in LM, reports have indicated that U.S. retailers are running low on imported goods, that U.S. manufacturers—such as the automobile manufacturing industry—are suffering depletion of imported component parts necessary for production, and that U.S. exporters are finding logistical challenges exporting U.S. agricultural commodities. 

“Our ability to recover from this economic disruption through the resumption of maritime commerce underscores the criticality and importance of our maritime trade,” says Bentzel. “Hopefully the resumption of this service can allow our nation to recover as rapidly as possible.” 

Information provided from shipping lines involved in the trans-Pacific trades indicate that cargo levels and services are resuming to pre-coronavirus levels. 

The FMC says It should be expected that coronavirus impacts “will linger” over the next few weeks while vessels are engaged in the cross-Pacific transit.