The US Postal Service has suspending inbound international packages from China and Hong Kong Posts, delaying or blocking shipments from giant online retailers, and Amazon competitors, like Shein and PDD’s Temu. USPS said letters and flat mail from China and Hong Kong would not be affected, according to a statement on its website.

President-elect Donald Trump blurted out another outrageous promise at a Turning Point USA event Sunday in Phoenix: He now wants the Panama Canal back. Trump claimed that Panama’s shipping fees were “ridiculous” and threatened to demand the canal’s return if these fees aren't reduced.

“I can proudly proclaim that the Golden Age of America is upon us,” Trump said. “There’s a spirit that we have now that we didn’t have just a short while ago.”

President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that the U.S. could take control of Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal—an unexpected Christmas Day message that has sparked concerns among world leaders in recent days as they scramble to prepare for Trump's second White House term.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on Thursday criticized President-elect Trump for saying the U.S. should take control of the Panama Canal and purchase Greenland.

“It is utterly preposterous to suggest that we are going to send our military into Panama to, quote, ‘take back the Panama Canal,'” Wasserman Schultz said during a Thursday appearance on CNN. 

Maritime disputes across the vast South China Sea have ratcheted up in recent years as an increasingly assertive China militarizes disputed islands and confronts its regional rivals over their competing claims in the strategically important and resource-rich waterway.

Bracketed by China and several Southeast Asian nations, parts of the vital economic passage are claimed by multiple governments, with Beijing asserting ownership over almost all of the waterway in defiance of an international court ruling.

The international shipping industry is demanding action after Islamic terrorists backed by Iran sank another major vessel in the Red Sea in the last several days.

The Houthi’s attack last week on the M/V Tutor — a Liberian flagged, Greek-owned and operated bulk cargo carrier — featured the use of an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) and missiles. The ship began to take on water immediately and eventually sank to the Red Sea’s bottom several days later.

The Port of Baltimore’s shipping channel is fully operational again, response officials announced Monday, more than two months after a massive cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six construction workers and cutting off access to the crucial shipping artery.

The cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March was refloated and moved from the site of the crash early Monday morning.

Why it matters: Nearly two months after the deadly collision, moving the Dali marks a critical step towards the full reopening of Port of Baltimore.

The catastrophic bridge collapse killed six construction workers and snarled shipping and traffic in one of the U.S.' busiest ports.

Baltimore has sued the operators of the container ship that hit and destroyed one of the US city's main bridges last month, killing six people.

The city says the Dali was "clearly unseaworthy" and accuses its owners and manager of negligence.

The ship's Singapore-based owner and manager have already asked a court to limit their liability.

The region is reeling from the closure of its busiest maritime transit port after the span collapsed on 26 March.

President Joe Biden got a firsthand look Friday at efforts to clear away the “mangled mess” of remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, as cranes, ships and diving crews work to reopen one of the nation’s main shipping lanes.