The Zhen Hua 29’s three-and-a-half month, 19,687 nautical-mile voyage from Shanghai across three oceans epitomizes a moment of peak globalization that could be coming to an end.

The WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes that the 800-foot-long ship carried enormous ship-to-shore cranes for seaports on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in Jamaica on a passage that started in June. Such cranes are entangled with the Trump administration’s trade wrangling with China, efforts to revive the American maritime industry and bipartisan concerns about China’s grip on crane manufacturing.

The cranes carried on the Zhen Hua 29 were made by the world’s No. 1 producer, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, or ZPMC. Such a lengthy, risky journey is necessary because Panama Canal authorities won’t allow vessels with overhanging cargo through the locks. After unloading in Texas and Jamaica, the Zhen Hua 29 crew was able to take the shortcut home through the Panama Canal, and dropped anchor off the coast of Shanghai on Dec. 3, after circumnavigating the globe.

Chief Global Supply Chain Officer Graeme Carter spoke with the WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young about how the Amsterdam-based company has changed its production process, including shifting some manufacturing to the U.S., and speeding up product development. The supply-chain shifts come as Coty overhauls its leadership and reviews its consumer-beauty strategy.

Tens of thousands of imports have been blocked from entering the U.S. in recent months. Many get to their destinations after buyers complete government paperwork, yet some that can’t clear customs because of missing or incomplete information are returned—or destroyed.

The stranded parcels are casualties of shifting new U.S. tariffs, tougher customs enforcement and other import restrictions that carriers and consumers say are tough to navigate, the Journal’s Esther Fung writes. More than one billion packages shipped individually to the U.S. each year are potentially subject to customs holds. These include goods valued at $800 or less that had entered the U.S. tariff-free until the “de minimis” exception was scrapped in August.

Customs and Border Protection says consumers need to adopt a “buyer beware” attitude when purchasing an item from abroad because they will be responsible for making sure it complies with state and federal import regulations.

• The tariff level on imports of upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities will remain at 25% after President Trump walked back a hike to 50% set to go into effect on Jan. 1. (WSJ)
• The U.S. Commerce Department reduced antidumping duties on Italian pasta, averting a potential withdrawal from the U.S. market. (WSJ)
• China imposed sanctions on 20 U.S. defense companies and 10 executives, including Northrop Grumman and Boeing’s St. Louis defense unit over Taiwan arms sales. (WSJ)
• Italy’s Senate passed a bill introducing a new levy on parcels from outside the EU valued at less than 150 euros, in a move targeting ultra-fast fashion platforms such as Shein and Temu. (Women’s Wear Daily)
• China will impose an additional 55% tariff on beef imports beyond quota levels from Australia, the U.S. and other suppliers. (Reuters)

Phishing, and not of the seafood kind, is suspected in the alleged theft of a $400,000 truckload of lobster bound for Costco last month, the WSJ’s Roshan Fernandez writes. The first part of the complex scheme involved a culprit slightly altering the email domain name of a real trucking company, according to Rexing Cos., which coordinated the shipment.

This led to the logistics firm hiring what turned out to be a fraudulent entity. Then, a perpetrator arrived to collect the lobster shipment at a Massachusetts cold-storage center, run by a third party, where a Rexing customer was storing the lobster. After picking up the seafood, the alleged thief or thieves turned off GPS trackers. The crustaceans haven’t been located since.

• New U.S. unemployment claims fell to 199,000 in the week ending Dec. 27, down from 215,000 the prior week. (WSJ)
• The number of homes going under contract in the U.S. rose for a fourth-straight month in November, according to a monthly index. (WSJ)
• China’s factory activity signaled a return to growth in December, according to both official and private surveys. (WSJ)
• Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the country was on track to meet its 2025 growth target of around 5%, in line with 2024’s expansion. (WSJ)
• South Korea’s exports grew a stronger-than-expected 13.4% from a year earlier to $69.58 billion in December on brisk semiconductor demand and set an annual record in 2025. (WSJ)
• Trump said the U.S. recently carried out an attack on a dock area in Venezuela where drugs are loaded onto boats for trafficking. (WSJ)
• The Bella 1, an aging oil tanker, has evaded the U.S. Coast Guard for nearly two weeks, in a pursuit complicated by a painted Russian flag. (WSJ)
• The Saudi military said it bombed weapons shipments arriving at a Yemeni port city from the UAE, and warned its Gulf rival it would counter any threat to its security.. (WSJ)
• Tesla deliveries in the fourth quarter are expected to drop 15% from a year earlier, according to estimates published by the automaker. (WSJ
• Saks Global is preparing for bankruptcy after missing an interest payment exceeding $100 million on debt from its Neiman Marcus merger. (WSJ)
• Hong Kong is launching a multimodal digital cargo tracking and data exchange network this month, at first focused on cargo flowing between Hong Kong and China. (Journal of Commerce)
• New requirements from the International Maritime Organization for the mandatory reporting of containers lost at sea took effect. (Lloyd’s List)
• Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would idle two intermodal terminals and two auto-processing facilities in major gateways, according to the companies’ merger application to the Surface Transportation Board. (TrainsPRO)
• The U.S. Coast Guard awarded contracts for six new Arctic icebreakers to Finland’s Rauma Marine Constructions and Louisiana’s Bollinger Shipyards. (gCaptain)
• U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced over $118 million in grants for roadway safety, commercial vehicle enforcement and training for veterans going into trucking. (The Trucker)
• Scrap Management Industries said it acquired Allmetal Recycling, a Kansas scrap-metal recycling company. (Recycling Today)
• The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating whether Spain is directly or indirectly blocking U.S.-flagged ships from its ports. (Ship & Bunker)

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.