The Panama Canal Authority plans to sell rights to two, yet-to-be-built ports to bring in more operators and dilute the influence of any one group.

The Wall Street Journal’s Costas Paris writes that the authority wants more competition now that Mediterranean Shipping Co. and China’s state-run Cosco have emerged as major players in a clash between the U.S. and China over who controls two existing Panama Canal ports.

In March, the U.S.’s BlackRock and MSC struck a deal to buy majority stakes in those existing ports from Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison. The deal followed pressure from President Trump, who had argued that Hutchison’s China connection was a security concern as he threatened to take over the canal. Beijing has since threatened to block the sale unless Cosco becomes an equal partner and shareholder of the ports.

The head of the canal authority expects the bidding process for the new ports to be completed by the end of the year, with bids from a number of other potential operators.

Steel companies are building new plants that will add millions of tons of the industrial metal to the U.S. market. Now, they need customers.

The Wall Street Journal’s Bob Tita and Andrew Mollica write the biggest steelmaking capacity build-out in decades is happening in an industry that has long struggled to compete against low-price imports. Steelmaking is core to Trump’s vision of a new U.S. industrial economy that uses tariffs to strong-arm manufacturers to buy more American-made products. The U.S. now has the world’s highest prices for steel, helped by tariffs on imported steel starting in 2018. Trump extended the tariffs to more imports this year and then doubled the rate.

Domestic steelmakers have embraced protectionist fervor and gained market share versus imports. But they haven’t been able to keep prices from slipping because of soft demand from major steel consumers such as the auto and construction industries.

• FalconPoint Partners pledged to invest $500 million in scrap-metal-management business SMS, which the private-equity firm is acquiring. (WSJ)
• Nippon Steel will spend $3.1 billion to revamp U.S. Steel’s Gary Works in Indiana, its biggest blast furnace, as part of its pledged $11 billion investment in the recently acquired company. (Nikkei Asia)

U.S. tariffs on goods from India doubled to 50% just after midnight Washington time today, as the two nations failed to reach a trade agreement.

The Journal’s Gavin Bade writes that Trump in early August threatened to increase tariffs on India by 25 percentage points due to its purchase of Russian oil, setting an Aug. 27 date for the increased levies to kick in. Those tariffs come on top of existing levies on India of 25%, which Trump imposed as part of his so-called reciprocal tariff action early this month.

After such a significant diplomatic and economic rupture between two of the world’s largest democracies, the next steps are unclear. Trump has shown himself to be open to reducing levies if countries can make more lucrative trade offers.

• South Korea’s Hyundai Motor said it would increase U.S. investment to $26 billion through 2028 from the $21 billion pledged in March to expand its presence in the market. (WSJ)
• HD Hyundai of South Korea and Cerberus Capital Management signed an agreement to form a partnership called Cerberus Maritime to invest in U.S. shipyards, ports and technology. (Seatrade Maritime News)
• Postal operators from 25 countries have suspended shipments to the U.S. ahead of the Aug. 29 end of the U.S. de minimis tariff exemption, according to the UN’s agency for postal services. (DC Velocity)

Demand for U.S. durable goods fell last month, but at a slower rate, as aircraft orders continued to stabilize, Commerce Department data show. (WSJ)

U.S. consumers’ confidence edged slightly lower in August from the month before, according to The Conference Board. (WSJ)

Manufacturing activity in the U.S.’s mid-Atlantic region continues to contract, but less sharply, as demand shows signs of recovering. (WSJ)

Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund is divesting from Caterpillar due to concerns its equipment was used by Israeli authorities during the war in Gaza. (WSJ)

Auto-parts supplier LKQ agreed to sell its self-service segment to private-equity firm Pacific Avenue Capital Partners for an enterprise value of $410 million. (WSJ)

The Department of Transportation said it would withhold funding from California, Washington and New Mexico unless they adopt English-proficiency rules for truck drivers. (Reuters)

Kohl’s is asking for more time to pay some vendors as the retailer executes a turnaround plan. (Bloomberg)

HD Hyundai union workers staged a partial strike and plan another Friday as wage talks are deadlocked. (Lloyd’s List)

Employees at the BlueOval SK EV-battery plant in Kentucky–a joint venture between South Korea’s SK On and Ford Motor–were set to vote on whether to join the United Auto Workers union. (Kentucky Lantern)

Canada Post reported its biggest-ever quarterly pretax loss, saying labor uncertainty led to a drop in parcel volumes and revenue. (Globe & Mail)

Zim is rerouting its ships away from Turkey after Ankara banned port calls by vessels linked to Israel. (The Loadstar)

The Wan Hai 503 containership that has been at sea for 11 weeks since catching fire off the coast of India is being towed to a Middle East port of refuge. (The Maritime Executive)

A major fire in a warehouse at the Port of Hamburg that injured ten people was brought under control after more than 20 hours. (WorldCargo News)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.