TikTok is turning to logistics in a bid to make its U.S. online sales go viral. The video-sharing app is setting up a network of warehouses and fulfillment operations, taking on nuts-and-bolts distribution tasks from the array of independent merchants that are selling goods to TikTok’s legions of followers. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes the business owned by Beijing-based ByteDance is effectively borrowing a page from Amazon as it looks to compete directly with the e-commerce market leader. TikTok hopes services such as managing inventory, picking and packing goods and shipping them out will help attract more merchants to TikTok Shop and win over shoppers with reliable delivery. It is a sign of how crucial fulfillment is to the online shopping experience. TikTok is breaking from Amazon’s precedent by outsourcing the operations, using companies including ShipBob to handle the details while TikTok provides the sales platform.

• Shein hired TikTok owner ByteDance’s top U.S. logistics executive to lead its fulfillment and logistics operations. (The Information)
• Indian e-commerce logistics firm Xpressbees raised $80 million in a funding round led by an arm of the Ontario Teachers’ pension fund. (TechCrunch)

The cushion that the automotive sector has provided chip makers isn’t looking very soft lately. Waning demand in once-hot segments such as electric vehicles is starting to reach into semiconductor supply chains, leading manufacturers and their suppliers to mind their balance sheets and their inventories more closely. The WSJ’s Dan Gallagher writes in a Heard on the Street column that the auto industry has been a haven for chip makers as demand from electronics manufacturers declined. Carmakers burned by production shortages chose to build up inventories of the valuable components. But carmakers can’t stack up inventories forever, and strains are showing up in supply chains. OnSemi, which supplies silicon-carbide chip products used in electric vehicles, says it is seeing order “pushouts” from automotive customers who struck long-term supply agreements. NXP Semiconductors is working with customers to help reduce their inventories “rather than just blindly enforcing” long-term supply agreements.

• Rivian Automotive says it is no longer required to sell its electric delivery vans exclusively to Amazon and is in talks with other potential customers. (WSJ)
• Intel is the leading candidate for potentially billions of dollars in government funding for secure facilities producing microchips for U.S. military and intelligence applications. (WSJ)
• The number of U.S. chip makers taking part in China's import fair rose this year despite Washington's restrictions on technology exports. (Nikkei Asia)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked entrances to the Port of Tacoma in Washington state in an attempt to stop the loading of a ship they believed to be transporting military equipment to Israel. In a WSJ video report, organizers say they opposed the Israel-Hamas war and targeted the Cape Orlando based on confidential information. The vessel drew similar protests at California’s Port of Oakland, where it docked on Friday before it sailed to Tacoma.

U.S. imports climbed 2.7% in September to the highest level since February. (MarketWatch)

China’s exports fell 6.4% in October in the sixth straight decline. (WSJ)

Mexico is on track to replace China as the largest supplier of foreign-made goods and services to the U.S. (MarketWatch)

U.S. wheat shipments fell in the past week to a 20-year low. (Bloomberg)

Hutchison Ports is expanding capacity at its container terminal at Mexico’s Lazaro Cardenas port. (The Loadstar) 

CBRE says new construction starts for industrial real estate fell 64% in the third quarter and leasing activity tumbled 12.4%. (Modern Materials Handling)

Prologis says companies could see “significant rental rate increases” for U.S. warehouses next year. (DC Velocity)

FedEx is encouraging its pilots to seek work with American Airlines Group's regional operation amid a cargo slowdown. (CNBC)

Former Air Transport Services Group CEO Joe Hete replaced Rich Corrado in the position as flight disruptions in Israel hit earnings. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Turkish Airlines expects to expand its cargo fleet to 40 freighters in the coming years. (Air Cargo News)

Third-quarter revenue at GXO Logistics jumped 8% to $2.5 billion as more companies outsourced their distribution operations. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Third-quarter revenue at Uber’s Freight segment sagged 27% and Ebitda swung to a $13 million loss. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Truckload carrier CRST acquired Texas-based operator BCB Transport. (Trucking Dive)

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

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on X at @WSJLogistics.