Auto factories in the U.S. and Europe were forced to stop production when China cut off exports of heavy rare-earth elements last year. Now, an Australian company called Lynas Rare Earths is at the vanguard of an effort by the U.S. and allies to prevent Beijing from squeezing the rest of the world.

The WSJ’s Jon Emont writes that Lynas is pumping out heavy rare earths from Kuantan, a small port city in Malaysia, one source in the Pentagon’s push to get its hands on the critical materials. In March, Lynas announced a preliminary $96 million deal in which the Defense Department would purchase its rare earths.

Las Vegas-based MP Materials, backed by billions of U.S. government dollars, plans its own refinery for heavy rare earths set to come online this year. In February, the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. extended $565 million in loans to Serra Verde, which operates a mine in Brazil. Last week, USA Rare Earth, of Stillwater, Okla., said it would acquire Serra Verde in a deal valued at about $2.8 billion, part of an arrangement that will ensure a steady supply of heavy rare earths to the U.S.

• The European Union and U.S. launched a critical minerals partnership. (WSJ)

President Trump extended a waiver of the Jones Act, part of an attempt to ease energy-market disruptions caused by the Iran war. The Journal’s Joe Wallace writes that, early in the war, the Department of Homeland Security temporarily lifted the Jones Act, which bans foreign ships from carrying goods between U.S. ports.

The waiver had been due to expire at the end of May 17 and covered vessels transporting energy-related products. White House Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers posted Friday on X that Trump had issued a 90-day extension. The American Maritime Partnership industry group slammed the move, saying it sabotages the president’s efforts to revive the American maritime industry.

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boarded two containerships identified as MSC Francesca and Epaminondas near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said Sunday. (WSJ)
• U.S. exports of crude and petroleum products rose to a record nearly 12.9 million barrels a day in the week to April 17, Energy Information Administration data show. Shipments of LNG also jumped, according to Kpler, with exports setting an all-time high last month. (WSJ)
• More than 40 containerships operated by the 10 biggest liners remain stranded in the Persian Gulf. (Lloyd’s List)
• Phillips 66 is shipping oil from a Texas terminal to the Trainer refinery in Pennsylvania, the first cargo shipped on a foreign tanker on that route since the Jones Act was waived. (Bloomberg)

Weyerhaeuser, the country’s top logger, is betting AI can deliver autonomous skidders dragging felled trees, databases detailing every tree in a forest and other big changes to American forestry.

The WSJ’s Ryan Dezember writes that America’s largest landowner plans to boost annual profits by $1 billion–roughly double 2025’s–by the end of the decade independent of any increase in lumber prices. Weyerhaeuser is counting on efficiencies from AI to deliver a big chunk of those gains, using it to monitor mill equipment, match output to customer demand and market pricing in real time, and to optimize the routes taken by its 5,000 trucks.

• Anxiety about the Iran war has left Americans in the grimmest economic mood on record, as measured by the University of Michigan’s consumer-sentiment index. (WSJ)
• Japan’s consumer prices excluding fresh food climbed 1.8% in March, driven by higher energy costs. (WSJ)
• Canadians’ retail spending rebounded in the first quarter of 2026. (WSJ)
• Norfolk Southern reported a 23% decline in first-quarter railway operating income to $877 million, with flat revenue of $3 billion. (WSJ)
• Kuehne + Nagel said the Iran war hit sea freight volumes in the period, but its air, road and contract-logistics businesses all made a strong start to the year. (WSJ)
• Volvo said truck orders rose 14% in the first quarter from a year earlier. (WSJ)
• Ryder System raised its adjusted earnings outlook for the year as the company expects the used-vehicle market to keep improving. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• Chinese goods bound for the U.S. were able to dodge an estimated $40 billion in tariffs last year by getting routed from China to Mexico via intermediary Asian nations, according to Altana. (Journal of Commerce)
• Walmart is piloting in-store warehousing in several Dallas stores to hold third-party merchants’ inventory to speed up deliveries. (Financial Times)
• Accenture, Vodafone and SAP are testing the use of humanoid robots alongside existing systems in a Duisburg, Germany, warehouse. (DC Velocity)
• Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern expect to file their revised merger application to the Surface Transportation Board on April 30, as planned. (TrainsPRO)
• The U.S. Truckload Carriers Association warned that the proposed federal reclassification of marijuana could have unintended consequences for an industry that prohibits truck drivers from using it. (SupplyChainBrain)

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.