Good morning.

The U.S. trade deficit widened sharply in November 2025, after a brief dip in recent months. Imports jumped 5% to $348.9 billion, while exports fell 3.6% to $292.1 billion.

That pushed the monthly trade gap to $56.8 billion, nearly double October’s $29.2 billion deficit. Pharmaceuticals and precious metals drove much of the swing.

Let’s dive into today’s edition.

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The U.S. government is preparing a $1.6 billion investment in USA Rare Earth, marking its largest intervention in the sector to date. The deal would give Washington a 10% stake in the Oklahoma-based company, along with substantial debt financing.

Key Details: According to Financial Times, the U.S. government would receive 16.1 million shares in USA Rare Earth and warrants for another 17.6 million, both priced at $17.17, according to people familiar with the matter. Washington agreed to pay $277 million for the equity, implying a $490 million paper gain for the shares and warrants based on the current stock price.

Mineral Deals: Last year, the Trump administration backed at least six critical minerals companies, including MP Materials, Trilogy Metals, and Lithium Americas, as part of a broader push to strengthen domestic supply chains.

Apple reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and forecast revenue growth of up to 16% for the current quarter. The company said sales could be higher if it were able to secure enough chips to meet rising iPhone demand, citing supply constraints tied to advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

Chip Crunch: Chief executive Tim Cook said the bottleneck lies in access to leading-edge chip production used for Apple’s A-series and M-series processors. Those chips are manufactured primarily by TSMC, which dominates advanced-node capacity. Apple said it is seeking more supply on TSMC’s 3-nanometer process.

Chain Reaction: Cook said Apple is seeing less flexibility in its supply chain than usual due to strong demand. The company also warned that rising memory prices, driven by AI-related demand, could pressure costs in the coming quarters.

Apple said it sourced 20 billion chips from the U.S. in 2025, exceeding prior targets. The company is increasing efforts to secure future supply, but declined to provide guidance beyond the March quarter.

Panama’s Supreme Court has annulled a long-standing contract allowing a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings to operate two key ports at either end of the Panama Canal, ruling the concession unconstitutional. The decision ends nearly three decades of control over the Balboa and Cristóbal ports and forces the government to restart the tender process.

Story so far: CK Hutchison Holdings, through its subsidiary Panama Ports Company (PPC), has operated two of the Panama Canal’s five ports since the 1990s. The concession was extended for 25 years in 2021 without a competitive bidding process. The group later agreed to sell the assets as rising geopolitical tensions and growing US scrutiny turned the ports into a strategic flashpoint.

What Next? According to reports, the court’s decision is final and cannot be appealed, although Hutchison may seek clarifications that could delay its implementation.

Donald Trump has warned that the United States could impose 100% tariffs on Canadian goods if Canada deepens trade ties with China, escalating tensions between Washington and Ottawa.

Backstory: The comments follow recent steps by Canada to recalibrate its China policy, including a newly announced “strategic partnership” that reduced some tariffs after years of strained relations. This includes reducing Chinese levies on Canadian canola oil and cutting Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Canada’s Reply: Canada pushed back strongly against Washington’s warning, stressing there is no plan for a free-trade pact with China. Prime Minister Mark Carney said recent talks with Beijing were limited to rolling back tariffs in a few affected sectors, not a broader trade deal.

United Parcel Service said it will eliminate 30,000 operational roles in 2026, deepening a multiyear restructuring as it scales back its business with Amazon.
The cuts follow 48,000 job reductions in 2025 and will be carried out through attrition and a second voluntary buyout program for full-time drivers, executives said on an earnings call.

Change of Plans: UPS expects the Amazon pullback to deliver $3 billion in total savings, after it has already removed about 1 million packages per day from its network.

Operational hours worked are set to fall by roughly 25 million hours, while automation and facility closures continue to reshape its footprint.
The company shut 93 facilities in 2025 and plans to close another 24 sites in the first half of this year.

The company’s fourth-quarter revenue fell 3.2% to $24.5 billion, but earnings beat expectations, helped by higher revenue per package.

We sat down for a detailed conversation with Marc Levinson, economist, historian, and the award-winning author of The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger.

From supply chains and shipbuilding to tariffs and China +1 policy, the conversation examines the forces reshaping global commerce.

This interview is available exclusively to CrossDock paid members on Feb 12.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide posted a sharp rise in quarterly profit as efficiency gains outweighed weaker demand in the U.S. freight market. The freight broker reported profit of $149.3 million, or $1.22 a share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $31 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier.

The result marked the company’s third consecutive quarter of profit growth despite continued pressure across trucking markets.

Freight Issues: Revenue slipped just under 1% to $4.18 billion, hurt by lower shipment volumes and weak trucking prices, though ocean forwarding provided some support. The figure came in below Wall Street expectations of $4.44 billion, according to FactSet. Management said the freight recession continued to cap broader market growth through 2024.

Chief Executive Dave Bozeman credited a lean operating strategy focused on productivity and automation. Shares of the company have climbed about 30% over the past year following a prolonged downturn.

CMA CGM and Stonepeak have agreed to form a port terminal joint venture valued at nearly $10 billion, the companies said. The venture will operate and invest in port terminals across the United States and other global markets.
Stonepeak will invest $2.4 billion to acquire a 25% minority stake in the new entity.

CMA CGM will contribute 10 existing terminals, including facilities in New York and Los Angeles. The joint venture will also include terminals in Spain, Brazil, India, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Stonepeak may provide an additional $3.6 billion in funding for future terminal projects.

U.S. Investment: CMA CGM said the proceeds from the deal will be used to fund growth in its core businesses. The agreement follows CMA CGM’s pledge to invest $20 billion in the United States, announced last year.

India and the European Union finalized negotiations on a free trade agreement on January 27, 2026. The deal aims to cushion both sides against strained ties with the United States while enabling freer trade in goods and services.

Deal Details: Under the agreement, Indian tariffs on 30% of goods traded with the EU will fall to zero immediately, while India will scrap duties entirely on most EU industrial imports, including machinery and electrical equipment.

The EU will eliminate tariffs on 90% of Indian goods at launch, expanding to 93% within seven years, including zero tariffs on key Indian exports such as marine products, textiles, apparel, and gems.

Tariff Fall: For European automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault, India's vehicle duties will drop from 110% to 10% over five years under a 250,000-vehicle annual quota. Premium wine tariffs will gradually fall from 150% to as low as 20%, though beef, rice, sugar, dairy, and poultry remain excluded.

Meta has entered a multiyear agreement worth up to $6 billion to purchase fiber-optic cable from Corning, as it accelerates the build-out of data centers across the United States. The deal is aimed at supporting Meta’s expanding artificial-intelligence infrastructure.

Key Details: Under the agreement, Corning will supply its latest-generation optical fiber, cable, and connectivity hardware, which form the backbone of modern AI data centers. The partnership aligns with Meta’s strategy to source advanced, domestically produced technology as it scales computing capacity for AI workloads.

To meet the demand from the agreement, Corning plans to expand manufacturing capacity across its North Carolina operations, including a scale-up at its optical-cable facility in Hickory, where Meta will serve as the anchor customer.

We’re also working on a detailed e-book that’s nearing completion. BuildOut AI — a comprehensive e-book that goes beyond models and chips to map the physical supply chains powering the AI boom. From energy systems and grid capacity to critical materials and industrial infrastructure, it reveals the real-world foundations shaping AI’s next phase.

CrossDock paid subscribers will receive full access at no additional cost, while non-subscribers can purchase the book through a limited-time early-access offer.