IA Insights: September 14, 2026

Trade, Compliance & Sustainability

• Beginning September 18, CBP can revoke an importer’s ability to bring goods into the United States if its customs information is inaccurate; the requirement applies to every importer of record, including those that submit information through a customs broker.
  
  
• CBP is also seeking stakeholder input on expanded supply-chain visibility requirements, including possible collection of foreign export documents, greater use of traceability technology and replacement of the current manufacturer identification code.
  
  
• Tariff payments by U.S. midsize companies remain more than twice their pre-2025 level, with JPMorganChase’s duty-payment index rising to 222 in June and tariff burdens increasing across every industry analyzed.
  
  
• The United States expanded 50% tariffs on Canadian goods effective September 15 and will ban select alcohol, dairy-related and motor-vehicle imports beginning September 29, while Canada has implemented retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on U.S. products.
  
  
• The EPA removed its online guidance for measuring Scope 3 supply-chain emissions, including calculation resources and supplier-engagement materials, although its guidance for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions remains available.
  
  
• The Port of New York and New Jersey will launch a $39 million zero-emission truck voucher program, offering up to $230,000 for Class 8 drayage trucks and $150,000 for terminal tractors, alongside $5 million for charging hubs within 10 miles of the port.

Ocean, Ports & Global Freight

• Maersk is reportedly preparing orders worth approximately $9 billion for up to 42 LNG-capable container ships, including its first 24,000-TEU vessels, which would add nearly 750,000 TEUs and raise its fleet capacity to approximately 5.5 million TEUs.
  
  
• Container carriers can now raise rates much faster when capacity is disrupted, according to Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc, who said higher operating costs, constrained infrastructure and carriers’ ability to withdraw capacity have created a stronger pricing floor.
  
  
• Trans-Pacific spot rates eased slightly to $7,569 per FEU to the West Coast and $9,505 to the East Coast, but higher bunker costs, Asian port congestion and blank sailings could keep prices near 2024 peak-season levels even as demand cools.
  
  
• Residual delays from four typhoons at Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan and Yantian are expected to persist through October, with Golden Week and Taiwan’s Mid-Autumn Festival limiting the time available to clear backlogs; Asia-Europe schedule reliability fell to 10% and Asia-North America to 23%.
  
  
• The NRF now expects September to be the busiest U.S. import month of 2026, forecasting 2.31 million TEUs, while the Port of Los Angeles completed its busiest three-month period on record with more than 2.9 million TEUs handled from June through August.
  
  
• Shippers are questioning carriers’ return to the Suez Canal as Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Cosco and Hapag-Lloyd expand Red Sea transits, while Houthi forces have seized Mokha and Perim Island, strengthening their control near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
  
  
• Record-low water levels along the Rhine are reducing barge payloads and pushing freight toward already-constrained truck and rail networks; replacing a single barge can require 100 to 200 trucks, and one month of low water can reduce German industrial production by an estimated 1%.

Trucking, LTL & Intermodal

• Domestic intermodal movements increased 12% year over year across North America in July, supported by high diesel prices and tightening truck capacity, although its 5.9% share of long-haul dry-van and reefer traffic remains below prior peaks.
  
  
• Large LTL carriers are beginning to report gradual volume improvement, with XPO’s August daily shipments up 5.7% and Saia’s tonnage up 8.7% year over year as some shippers use smaller, faster shipments to limit inventory and avoid stockouts.
  
  
• Norfolk Southern expects its Pennsylvania chassis backlog to be cleared and tender restrictions lifted early this week; the railroad has leased 750 chassis, repositioned more than 400 units and plans to waive qualifying demurrage tied to unavailable containers.
  
  
• The national diesel benchmark reached a record $5.967 per gallon, increasing the basis used for most fuel surcharges, while Uber Freight warned that volatile fuel costs could force small carriers to park trucks as van contract rates stand 18% above last year and spot rates are up 35.6%.

Parcel & Air Cargo

• FedEx, UPS, USPS and Amazon Shipping are imposing higher 2026 holiday delivery fees, with peak-season increases beginning as early as September and extending into January on top of already-elevated fuel surcharges.
  
  
• Amazon reportedly expects its own network to deliver more than 86% of its U.S. packages in 2027, rising to nearly 89% by 2029 as the company continues reducing the shares handled by USPS and UPS.
  
  
• FedEx launched a Shopify app that guarantees displayed duties and taxes at checkout, part of its broader Global Trade Navigator suite, which also provides tariff estimates, HS-code support, customs-data checks, APIs and import reporting tools.
  
  
• Teamsters President Sean O’Brien is already warning of a possible UPS strike in 2028, citing benefits, automation, autonomous trucks and alleged outsourcing among the expected issues ahead of negotiations for 330,000 unionized employees.
  
  
• Global air cargo spot rates declined 3% month over month to $3.13 per kilogram in August, but remained 24% above last year as demand grew 6% and shippers favored short-term capacity while waiting for further price relief.
  
  
• Miami International Airport largely restored cargo operations after the fatal Amazon Prime Air crash, although reduced runway capacity continued to cause arrival holds and missed connections, creating added risk for time-sensitive and perishable shipments.