Demand is bouncing back for the biggest warehouses after several years of slow leasing activity, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes. Companies signed 146 leases across the U.S. for warehouses over 500,000 square feet last year, up more than 31% from the previous year to the highest level since 2022, according to real-estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Forty-two of those agreements were signed in the fourth quarter, the most activity in a quarter since the third quarter of 2022, according to Cushman. The activity is a sign that tenants are back in the market for new space after years of weak demand following a period of frenzied expansion during the pandemic, real-estate executives and researchers say. The leasing slowdown had been particularly acute among the sprawling, expensive buildings that were in hot demand for years among e-commerce operators.

The latest wave of demand is being fueled by companies setting up U.S. manufacturing, suppliers to the data-center construction boom and retailers outsourcing their fulfillment operations to third-party logistics providers. Another dynamic driving new leasing is that some companies are nearing the end of lease agreements struck during the pandemic.

• Gen Z spends a greater proportion of their discretionary dollars in physical stores, a bright spot for the struggling mall business. (WSJ)

The Trump administration announced new tariff investigations targeting excess industrial capacity and forced-labor regulations that could result in higher levies on scores of nations.

The investigations are being initiated under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to levy tariffs against nations that discriminate against U.S. firms or commerce, the Journal’s Gavin Bade reports. The probes, run by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, will require the U.S. to consult with foreign governments and provide hearings and opportunities for comment before levies can be imposed.

The Section 301 tariffs are designed to replace the temporary global duties of 10% that Trump imposed after the Supreme Court deemed many of his second-term levies illegal. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer didn’t specify how high the new tariffs would be. Trump economic officials previously said they would try to replicate the level of tariff revenue the U.S. was bringing in before the Supreme Court decision.

• Taoiseach Micheál Martin plans to discuss about $6.1 billion in Irish investments in the U.S. during his March 17 White House visit. (WSJ)

Iranian attacks and the U.S.’s decision to hold off on military escorts for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz are raising the prospect of a prolonged closure that would choke off exports through the world’s most important energy-transport route.

On Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck three cargo ships attempting to transit the waterway, the only sea route out of the Persian Gulf. It warned that any other vessels trying to move through the strait also would be targeted.

Later on Wednesday night, in an incident far from the strait, two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil burned in Iraqi waters after being hit by projectiles, Iraqi ports officials said. And a containership was struck in the waters north of Dubai, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre said, making it at least the sixth vessel to have sustained damage in the region since Wednesday.

The U.S. has turned down repeated requests for tanker escorts from oil companies, said officials from Gulf countries. Defense officials say it is too dangerous to send warships into the confined waters of the strait until the risks of Iranian fire have receded.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s plan to sell insurance for ships in the Gulf is proving easier said than done, the Journal’s Jean Eaglesham and Costas Paris write. The U.S. Development Finance Corp. was tasked with implementing the $20 billion, “America First”-style insurance program, led by U.S. insurers. But this idea ran counter to market realities, industry executives say.

Maritime war risks policies are sold mostly out of Lloyd’s of London, with foreign insurers covering foreign ships and cargo. U.S. officials called London insurers and brokers, trying to figure out how the market operates. After shipowners and insurers questioned the plan’s practicality, the DFC pivoted to proposing using the $20 billion as reinsurance, or coverage insurers can buy to offset certain risks.

This government-funded backstop will be fronted by Chubb, which will work with other U.S. insurers, the DFC said Wednesday. 

In other war-related developments:

• The International Energy Agency slashed its forecast for oil-supply growth, sending futures prices higher, a day after it said member countries would release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency stocks, the largest-ever such distribution. (WSJ)
• The Energy Information Administration revised higher its forecasts for oil, gasoline and diesel prices through 2027, saying Brent crude could average $79 a barrel this year, up from its previous forecast of $58. (WSJ)
• Medical technology giant Stryker was hit with a cyberattack Wednesday, with staff and contractors reporting that the logo of an Iran-linked hacking group appeared on login pages. (WSJ)
• President Trump renewed his threat to cut off trade with Spain over the country’s opposition to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. (WSJ)
• A.P. Moller-Maersk is filling vessels with fuel in the U.S. and Europe and transferring it to ships in Asia. (Journal of Commerce)
• Trump is set to invoke the Defense Production Act to override California law and ease permitting for Sable Offshore to restart oil production from offshore platforms in the state. (Bloomberg)

• Canadian housing starts are expected to decline from 2026 to 2028 because of higher costs, weaker demand, and elevated levels of unsold inventory. (WSJ)
• Cintas agreed to acquire UniFirst in a deal with an enterprise value of $5.5 billion, more than four years after it first bid for the smaller uniform supplier. (WSJ)
• Nvidia will invest $2 billion in Nebius Group as part of a strategic partnership to expand AI cloud infrastructure. (WSJ)
• Deutsche Lufthansa said more than half of scheduled flights will proceed on Thursday and Friday, despite a planned employee strike over pension and compensation disputes. (WSJ)
• BlackRock is committing $100 million of grant capital to fund training programs in the skilled trades, including plumbers and electricians, as it pushes more into private-infrastructure investing. (WSJ)
• Lynas Rare Earths secured a floor price for some rare earths it sells to Japan in line with a price pledged by the Pentagon to a U.S. rival. (WSJ)
• China’s Cosco and Hong Kong’s OOCL suspended services at the Panama Canal port of Balboa, as a dispute over the takeover of CK Hutchison-operated terminals continues. (Lloyd’s List)
• The OOCL containership Sunflower lost over 50 boxes overboard en route to California’s Port of Long Beach from Taiwan because of adverse weather. (The Loadstar)

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.