Tag: USA

China imported its first US crude oil cargo after about two months, since the two countries agreed to stop imposing new tariffs on each other’s products for 90 days. However, Chinese oil traders said they were still cautious.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided to uphold a preliminary order implementing a federal law that requires a ban on seafood imported from Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California and caught with gillnets that drown the vaquita porpoise. The decision is critical to the survival of the remaining 15 vaquita.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has granted $46 million for the Jacksonville Harbor deep draft navigation project. This will be additional to the $50 million in federal funding awarded to JAXPORT for the project over the past two fiscal years.

On the 13th East Asia Summit at Singapore in mid-November, the Quad countries, namely India, US, Japan and Australia, are expected to revitalise the conversation concerning the maritime security and disaster relief initiatives as well as economic development projects in the critical Indo-Pacific region.

The United States has granted temporary exemptions to China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey allowing them to continue buying Iranian oil. More than 20 importing nations have zeroed out their imports of crude oil from Iran.

After renewable energy production experienced its uptake in 2016, 165 gigawatts of new capacity are now supplied from clean sources. In this new reality there are three countries which will responsible for two-thirds of global renewable energy expansion to 2022: China, USA, and India.

In its latest issue paper, Oceans Beyond Piracy, touch upon the issue of  privately contracted armed maritime security, saying that the use of armed guards as a security solution at sea is characterized by private security companies providing armed protection for assets. 

The American Association of Port Authorities announced that its entire membership in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean will celebrate Western Hemisphere Ports Day on Tuesday, April 4. On this annual celebration, the association will recognize the industry’s role in supporting job creation and propelling the economies of the nations they serve across the Americas.

President Trump signed, on March 7, a new Executive Order entitled "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States", which bans the entry to US for crewmembers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, unless they hold valid visas prior to March 16th. Also, they will not be able to obtain visas, until 90 days after March 16th.

The American P&I Club released a guide of key regulations that shipowners should be aware of when trading to and from the United States and United States Territories. The guidance concerns safety, maritime security, marine environmental protection and liability.