The Trump administration is in talks with at least one major insurance broker about how to get ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz again, the WSJ’s Heather Gillers writes.

A team from broker Marsh Risk met with administration officials and offered to help the government create a mechanism to lower shipping risk and insurance costs. It wasn't clear where the funding would come from or whether the project would need congressional support.

Trump on Tuesday said he had ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. to offer “political risk insurance” and guarantees of financial security, and said the U.S. would provide naval escorts for tankers passing through the strait.

The pledges reflected the need to restore flows of energy from the Middle East before soaring prices rip through the world economy, the Journal’s Joe Wallace, Rebecca Feng and Summer Said write. As of Wednesday, several thousand ships were stuck inside and outside the Persian Gulf, trapping roughly a fifth of the oil and LNG the world consumes each day.

• The runup in oil prices paused Wednesday, but futures are up about 15% this week so far. Diesel futures climbed 23% in the first two days of the week to the highest level since October 2023, frustrating farmers, long-haul truckers and other big consumers in the U.S.
• Regional storage tanks are filling up with oil that can’t set sail, forcing producers to slash output. If producers reach the limits of their storage sites, or “tank tops,” they have to curtail production.
• QatarEnergy, the world’s No. 1 producer of LNG, declared force majeure, saying it can’t fulfill its obligations to buyers because of attacks on its facilities.
• A tanker carrying LNG to Europe U-turned and may be en route to Asia, according to Kpler, an early indication that a bidding war between Asian and European buyers could be underway.

Outside of energy, major container shipping companies halted bookings and diverted more vessels. Mediterranean Shipping Co., or MSC, declared an “end of voyage” for all shipments destined for the Persian Gulf that are currently in the company’s custody, whether at sea or ashore. This means shipments will be diverted to the next safe port of discharge.

Hapag-Lloyd suspended all bookings to and from the Upper Gulf region, CMA CGM said vessels with cargo bound for several Mideast countries will be diverted to contingency ports, and A.P. Moller-Maersk paused bookings between the Indian subcontinent and the Upper Gulf, the WSJ’s Dominic Chopping reports.

• All crew members were evacuated and accounted for after a missile hit the containership Safeen Prestige, owned by AD Ports unit Safeen Feeders, in the Strait of Hormuz. (Lloyd’s List)
• The closure of Middle East airspace and hubs has cut air-cargo capacity on routes linking Asia and Europe by nearly 40%, Aevean estimates. (The Loadstar)
• Container carriers are pausing yearly trans-Pacific contract negotiations as they assess how the Iran conflict will affect their costs and available capacity. (Journal of Commerce)

A federal trade-court judge ordered the Trump administration to start refunding the more than $130 billion it collected in the global tariffs invalidated by the Supreme Court last month. After a hearing involving one company’s fight for a refund, Judge Richard Eaton issued a written order directing the administration to start the refund process, and set a hearing for Friday at which he asked for updates.

The International Trade Court judge said the repayment process should be straightforward. He grew impatient when a Justice Department lawyer said the government hadn’t yet formalized its position on refunding the tariffs, the WSJ’s James Fanelli, Lydia Wheeler and Louise Radnofsky report. More than 2,000 lawsuits from companies seeking refunds have been filed at the trade court.

The International Trade Court is having a rare moment in the sun thanks to the question of tariff refunds. The court last year ruled that the president didn’t have the authority to claim emergency powers to impose tariffs on nearly every nation. The Supreme Court in a blockbuster ruling last month agreed, but said nothing about what should happen next.

• Trump's promised 15% global tariff will likely start this week and last 150 days, during which agencies will produce studies to implement more lasting duties, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. (WSJ)
• The U.S. and Japan are considering a nuclear power plant and a copper refining facility for the second phase of Tokyo’s pledged investment of $550 billion. (Nikkei Asia)

• China set its 2026 GDP growth target at 4.5% to 5%, the lowest since at least the 1990s. (WSJ)
• The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book report indicates a steady economy with persistent inflation, a stable labor market and policy uncertainty. (WSJ)
• ADP’s monthly report showed the private sector added 63,000 jobs in February, exceeding analysts’ expectations. (WSJ)
• The eurozone unemployment rate fell to a new record low of 6.1% in January, down from 6.2% in December. (WSJ)
• Gauges of China’s manufacturing and services activity showed pockets of weakness alongside improvement as markets wait for the country’s leaders to set growth targets. (WSJ)
• Germany’s Traton, which makes Scania, MAN and International trucks, sees 2026 unit sales and revenue coming in 5% lower to 7% higher than 2025, assuming no change to U.S. tariffs. (WSJ)
• Ford Motor’s U.S. vehicle sales fell 5.5% in February to 149,962, driven by declines in electric and hybrid vehicles. (WSJ)
• Volvo Car is preparing to increase production of its fully electric EX60 SUV to meet strong demand. (WSJ)
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorized a construction permit for Bill Gates-backed TerraPower’s Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 in Wyoming. (WSJ)
• The Justice Department is investigating whether Mosaic, Nutrien, CF Industries, Koch and other fertilizer producers colluded to raise prices. (Bloomberg)
• BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Co. are pressing to complete the acquisition of global ports from Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison, minus two Panama Canal terminals, after authorities seized the assets. (Financial Times)
• Kroger is using Corvus Robotics drones in its cold-chain distribution operations to autonomously scan pallet locations, allowing inventory visibility without full physical counts. (SupplyChainDive)
• DHL Group extended CEO Tobias Meyer’s contract until 2031. (Air Cargo News)
• The European Commission released strategies to strengthen the EU's maritime industry, modernize ports, enhance security and speed the switch to cleaner energy. (gCaptain)

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.