Canada’s government is trying to determine if it can keep some essential commodities moving in the event of a nationwide rail strike. The government is asking the federal labor-relations board to review the potential regulatory limits on a walkout by Teamsters Canada’s more-than 9,000 members at Canadian National Railway and Canada Pacific Kansas City. The WSJ’s Paul Vieira reports the step could delay the start of a possible strike, which could begin as early as May 22. Canada’s industrial sector has raised alarms over the potential strike, which would reach across a range of supply chains. The concerns are particularly pronounced for goods such as propane heading to rural communities and agricultural commodities for farmers that face tight time constraints and big potential losses. Canada-based Nutrien, the world’s largest fertilizer producer by capacity and a major exporter, says it is making contingency plans should the railroads stop moving.

• Canada’s economy added a net 90,400 jobs in April, the biggest monthly increase since the start of 2023. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• President Biden plans to name Surface Transportation Board member Robert Primus to replace Martin Oberman as chairman of the rail regulator. (Railway Age)

Higher new tariffs are starting to get embedded into U.S.-China trade. The Biden administration is preparing to raise levies on clean-energy goods from China in the coming days, the WSJ’s Andrew Duehren and Andrew Restuccia report, including roughly quadrupling the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles. The levies are also due to hit critical minerals, solar goods and batteries sourced from China. The decision comes at the end of a yearslong review of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on some $300 billion in goods from China. Concerns over China’s exporting might have grown since then, particularly in clean-energy sectors where supply chains are still forming. There’s a major political backdrop as well, with former President Donald Trump saying he is considering imposing tariffs of 60% or more on all Chinese imports. As its broader economy slumps, Chinese officials are leaning into clean-energy production to stimulate overall growth.

• China’s producer prices fell 2.5% last month, the 19th straight monthly decline. (WSJ)
• China’s car sales fell 5.7% in April from a year ago despite strong growth in sales of new-energy vehicles. (WSJ)
• China’s premier says the country is seeking to cut logistics costs to improve the efficiency of the economy. (South China Morning Post)

A measure of U.S. consumer sentiment fell at a sharp pace at the start of May. (MarketWatch)

The U.K. economy returned to growth in the first three months of the year. (WSJ)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s revenue jumped nearly 60% in April. (WSJ)

The planned weekend demolition of Key Bridge wreckage outside the Port of Baltimore was postponed until today. (WBAL)

The Panama Canal is in talks with U.S. liquefied natural gas exporters on how to increase crossings that would provide better reach to Asia markets. (Reuters)

Peloton Interactive is seeking millions of dollars from freight forwarder Flexport over what it claims are unfair charges over several years. (Journal of Commerce)

Taiwanese container line Yang Ming’s net profit more than doubled to $298.4 million in the first quarter on a 14% gain in revenue. (The Loadstar)

The landlocked African country Eswatini is offering flag registration to tankers sanctioned by the U.S. (Lloyd’s List)

GXO Logistics opened a 2.1 million-square-foot distribution center for consumer-goods maker Conair in Hagerstown, Md. (DC Velocity)

Walmart is closing a fulfillment center in Pedrickstown, N.J., and shifting the operations to a new 1.5 million-square-foot facility in Greencastle, Pa. (ROI-NJ)

Forward Air swung to a $47 million quarterly operating loss​ as the expedited trucker absorbed its Omni Logistics acquisition. (Trucking Dive)

The U.S. Postal Service narrowed its fiscal second quarter net loss to $1.5 billion from $2.5 billion the year before. (Logistics Management)

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.