The Biden administration is taking new regulatory steps aimed at speeding up  development of electric-vehicle supply chains. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new vehicle tailpipe emissions standards, the WSJ’s Ken Thomas and Ryan Felton report, providing steep challenges to auto makers transitioning to new technology. The rules would be the nation’s toughest-ever restrictions on car pollution and would apply to cars, sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks in the 2027 to 2032 model years, with the goal of jump-starting EV sales and phasing out the era of internal combustion engines. A separate proposal covering medium-duty vehicles including box trucks is expected to electrify nearly half of those vehicles by the 2032 model year. Auto makers are already transitioning to EVs but face hurdles in a rapid rollout. Those include concerns over a still-evolving network of charging stations and supply chains for battery production that are still being formed.

• PepsiCo took delivery of 18 Tesla Semi trucks at its Sacramento, Calif., distribution center. (KCRA)

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is reaching deeper into shipping supply chains. The Toronto-based infrastructure assets manager is buying intermodal equipment leasing and maritime container management company Triton International in a deal with an enterprise value of $13.3 billion. The WSJ’s Adriano Marchese reports that Brookfield and its institutional partners will take Triton private under an agreement that values its common equity at about $4.7 billion. It also will take Brookfield Infrastructure beyond fixed assets like terminals and export facilities and into the equipment that carry goods through global supply chains. Triton is the world’s largest owner and lessor of intermodal containers, a segment marked by volatile swings in supply and demand during pandemic-driven disruptions. Container xChange says in its first-quarter industry report that strains have eased more recently. The online equipment platform says global container prices fell 14.3% from the fourth quarter, including a 20.6% drop in North America.

• Container xChange says China’s are overcrowded with boxes because of the slowdown in the country’s exports. (The Loadstar)

The largest retailer in the U.S. is pulling back from big cities. Walmart is closing four stores in Chicago after earlier closing several others in urban areas, the WSJ’s Sarah Nassauer reports, as the company extends a broader reset of its supply chain for a post-pandemic environment. The new closings signal that Walmart is retreating from stores it hoped would attract new shoppers but that lag behind the profits of rural and suburban locations. The closings are a blip in the sprawling Walmart network that counts 4,700 stores but they suggest at least a partial shift in strategy. Walmart executives have debated for decades over how to grow profitably inside urban centers that can be costly and carry robust competition. In recent weeks it has cut thousands of jobs in e-commerce fulfillment centers as online sales slow and it fulfills more e-commerce orders from store inventory.

• UBS says some 50,000 U.S. stores could close by 2027 because of rising e-commerce and other trends. (Retail Dive)

China’s exports soared 14.8% in March, in a strong rebound from the previous month. (WSJ)

U.S. inflation eased to 5% in March from a year earlier, its lowest level in nearly two years. (WSJ)

China agreed to take steps that could resolve a trade dispute with Australia over barley. (WSJ) 

Thousands of residents were evacuated after a large fire at an Indiana plastics facility pumped clouds of black, toxic smoke into the air. (WSJ)

Quarterly sales at luxury retailer LVMH jumped 17% on a “significant rebound” in Asia business. (WSJ)

Apple supplier Japan Display will work with China’s HKC on new display technology. (Reuters)

Germany is reviewing its decision to allow China’s Cosco Shipping Ports to buy a stake in a container terminal at the Port of Hamburg. (Financial Times)

A deep-sea port under construction in Bangladesh is shaping up as a potential strategic linchpin for Japan and India to counter Chinese influence. (Nikkei Asia)

U.S. regulators are weighing a penalty against Mediterranean Shipping over a congestion surcharge in its tariff. (Maritime Executive)

Unionized dockworkers and employers at Canada’s Port of Halifax reached a tentative contract agreement. (Journal of Commerce)

The Seattle and Tacoma ports will offer financial incentives for shippers to use rail rather than trucks. (Progressive Railroading)

New orders at Japanese shipyards fell substantially in the year ending in March. (Lloyd’s List)

U.K. maritime law firm Ince Group is entering the country’s version of bankruptcy protection after a major creditor withdrew support. (Splash 247)

Freight technology provider project44 says on-time delivery of truckload shipments in the U.S. has improved but remains behind prepandemic levels. (DC Velocity)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Write to him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @ByLizYoung and @PDBerger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.