The U.S. is raising the barriers to Chinese textile suppliers shipping into the country. Authorities will block imports from dozens of suppliers over their alleged ties to forced labor, the WSJ’s Richard Vanderford reports, sharply expanding a list of companies banned in a crackdown on goods from China’s Xinjiang region. The steps likely will pressure corporate supply chains since China is the U.S.’s single largest foreign source of textiles and apparel. The named businesses serve as middlemen, sourcing cotton from Xinjiang and selling it primarily to Chinese manufacturers. The move comes amid a broader U.S. crackdown on the import of goods tied to forced labor, and in particular those from Xinjiang. In some cases, Western companies have been surprised to find their products tied to the region. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says the moves are meant to make businesses aware of possible abuse in their supply chains.

Microsoft’s new push to cut emissions could reverberate across supply chains beyond the company’s own operations. The software heavyweight is asking its main suppliers to use 100% carbon-free energy by the end of the decade, the WSJ’s Perry Cleveland-Peck reports, as it targets the Scope 3, indirect emissions that have become a flashpoint in efforts to clean supply chains of carbon. In Microsoft’s case, that amounts to more than 96% of the tech company’s total emissions. Microsoft says building infrastructure to house and run its generative AI operations has helped boost its supplier emissions. Some of Microsoft’s main suppliers include Samsung Electronics, Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer RealTek and South Korean chip maker SK Hynix. All three have ambitious net-zero goals that extend past the end of the decade, and the scale of their operations means emissions cuts will reach the supply chains of scores of companies, including Microsoft.

Liquid and paper generally haven’t gone well together in supply chains, but that may change soon. Several companies, including spirits producers Diageo and Pernod Ricard and consumer-goods supplier Procter & Gamble, are testing paper-bottle designs that would upend packaging across a range of products by eliminating glass and plastic. The WSJ’s Saabira Chaudhuri reports the effort comes as paper is growing in popularity as a substitute for plastic packaging. But making a paper bottle that doesn’t get soggy and keeps drinks fresh is inherently challenging, and examples that are reaching store shelves use a paper shell that houses a separate plastic pouch. Even that tactic can have a significant impact in logistics operations by replacing heavy glass containers with lighter paper. There are big problems to solve, however. Pernod tested paper bottles for Absolut vodka and found their lightness made them fall over on production lines.

U.S. industrial production was flat in April as manufacturing output declined 0.3%. (MarketWatch)

Japan’s economy contracted 0.5% in the first three months of the year, the third straight lackluster quarter. (WSJ)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City says strikes against the country’s big railroads are unlikely in the next 60 days. (WSJ)

Spirit AeroSystems is laying off hundreds of workers as the jet-fuselage supplier grapples with a production slowdown at Boeing. (WSJ)

Walmart raised its earnings forecast after comparable-store sales rose 3.8% last quarter, including a 22% gain in e-commerce sales. (WSJ)

Under Armour is laying off workers as part of a broad restructuring after revenue fell 4.8% last quarter. (WSJ)

Honda plans to invest about $65 billion on electric vehicles and software over the 10 years ending in 2030. (WSJ)

Chinese electric-vehicle makers are rushing to ship vehicles to Mexico and Brazil ahead of tariff hikes and other trade restrictions in the U.S. (Nikkei Asia)

Industry experts in South Korea say the country’s big automakers should diversify their parts supply chains​ beyond China amid new U.S. trade restrictions. (Korea Times)

Quarterly sales at Chinese e-commerce merchant JD.com rose 7% to $36 billion. (South China Morning Post)

Allianz says Russian shadow fleet tankers have been involved in 50 accidents over the last three years. (ShippingWatch)

A cyber espionage group known as Mustang Panda has been hacking into Norwegian, Greek and Dutch-controlled ships. (TradeWinds)

ACT Research says average profit margins at U.S. truckload carriers fell to a 14-year low in the first quarter. (DC Velocity)

Greece-based maritime software startup Harbor Lab raised $16 million in a Series A funding round. (TechCrunch)

Logistics data startup GoodShip raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by former executives at defunct trucking business Convoy. (GeekWire)

A worker on a Norwegian containership died in an accident at the Jacksonville, Fla., port. (WOKV)

• Dozens of big companies that dropped dividends during the pandemic haven’t resumed them. “Is this the equivalent of long-term Covid?”
• Nearly half of compliance professionals surveyed by WSJ said they had only a basic or novice level of expertise in overseeing cybersecurity-related compliance.
• Top-ranking lenders are getting less of their money back when companies go bankrupt.
• Coke’s new attached-cap design is rattling European consumers, and smacking many of them in the face.
• 🎧 Listen to eBay’s CFO and chief AI officer describe the online marketplace’s plans for investing in and using AI resources.

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.