Ocean shipping companies say importers and exporters won’t have to pay surcharges when new fees are imposed next month on Chinese ships at U.S. ports, but some businesses fear price increases are coming anyway.

The WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes that the U.S. plans to charge fees on Chinese-built, -owned and -operated ships that call at the U.S. from Oct. 14. Hundreds of businesses and trade groups early this year appealed to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office not to implement the then-proposed fees. The Trump administration in April unveiled softer levies and gave carriers a six-month reprieve.

Some carriers, including Mediterranean Shipping Co., CMA CGM and China’s Cosco have told customers that they won’t impose surcharges, for now. The companies have been shuffling Chinese-built ships out of U.S. trade routes, but this may not be operationally optimal. This leaves importers worried that services could be disrupted by changes to vessel deployments and fees could be applied in the future.

Rivian broke ground on a factory in Georgia, doubling down on electric vehicles even as federal policy is pulling the auto industry back from making them.

The Journal’s Ryan Felton writes that the new plant about 45 miles east of Atlanta amounts to an all-in bet for Rivian to move from a small automaker that builds pricey EVs to a profitable company that produces high volumes of mass-market vehicles. The gamble on the factory runs counter to the rest of the U.S. auto industry, which is shifting back to gasoline-powered cars as a tax credit expires and EV demand slumps.

The Irvine, Calif., company plans to build a more-affordable R2 SUV and a smaller R3 model. The $5 billion plant is set to open in 2028. 

• ABB plans to invest $110 million across four U.S. manufacturing sites to meet future demand for data centers and the power grid. (WSJ)
• Eli Lilly unveiled plans to build a $5 billion manufacturing facility in Virginia as part of the drugmaker’s pledge to bolster its U.S. medicine production with four new manufacturing sites. (WSJ)
• South Korea’s government is investigating potential human-rights violations against more than 300 Korean citizens involved in the U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai site in Georgia. (WSJ)
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is probing reports of door-lock problems on some 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles that have left occupants trapped inside. (WSJ)
• China’s Hesai, which produces lidar sensors to help autonomous cars read their surroundings, raised nearly half a billion dollars in an oversubscribed Hong Kong offering. (WSJ)
• Jaguar Land Rover extended a production shutdown to Sept. 24 as it continues to grapple with the fallout from a cyberattack. (WSJ)
• Ford Motor plans to cut a further 1,000 jobs in Germany as it seeks deeper cost savings to offset weak EV demand in Europe. (WSJ)

Canadian fashion retailer Ssense already was financially distressed. The end of the U.S.’s de minimis tariff exemption helped tip it over the edge and into bankruptcy. The Journal’s Alicia McElhaney writes that a Canadian court cleared the seller of luxury brands such as Fendi and Loewe to move forward with its restructuring--one of the first to be spurred by the trade-policy shift.

Before the exemption ended, nearly 60% of Ssense’s customers were located in the U.S. Since the tariffs went into effect, Ssense—once valued at 5 billion Canadian dollars, or about $3.64 billion—has seen its U.S. customer base decline to 40% of its sales, court papers show. Financially healthier companies such as Lululemon and Etsy also have warned the exemption’s end could hurt their business.

U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in August from July, higher than the 0.3% increase economists polled by WSJ had expected. (WSJ)

Import prices excluding duties and transportation costs in the U.S. unexpectedly rose 0.3% last month from July, driven by nonfuel imports. (WSJ)

A gauge of builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family housing was 32 this month, the same as August and down from 33 in July. A reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment. (WSJ)

Canada’s consumer-price index dipped 0.1% in August for annual inflation of 1.9%, slightly cooler than the 2% yearly advance economists expected. (WSJ)

Eurozone industrial production grew 0.3% in July, recovering from a 0.6% drop in June. (WSJ)

Major U.S. tech companies including Microsoft, Google and Nvidia pledged to spend more than $40 billion to expand AI infrastructure in the U.K. as the nation welcomes President Trump for a state visit. (WSJ)

Germany’s Thyssenkrupp said India’s Jindal Steel made a non-binding offer for its European steel operations. (WSJ)

Performance Food Group and US Foods Holding entered an agreement to share information and evaluate a possible merger. (WSJ)

The Trump administration ordered Delta and Aeromexico to dissolve their joint venture by Jan. 1, 2026, citing competition concerns. (WSJ)

The U.S. and China are in the final stage of talks for a state visit to Beijing by President Trump. (South China Morning Post)

Target is expanding next-day delivery to 35 U.S. metropolitan areas. (SupplyChainDive)

The board of Israel’s ZIM Integrated Shipping Services enlisted Evercore to approach potential acquirers of the New York-listed container carrier. (Calcalist)

The U.K.’s energy regulator launched an international audit of the biomass supply chain for Drax Group’s power plant. (Bloomberg)

Work stoppages at South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries continued into a fourth day, with the union planning to continue until talks conclude. (Lloyd’s List)

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.