‘Chinese cartel’: US indicts seven executives, four firms over shipping container price-fixing

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - The US has indicted seven Chinese executives and four major shipping container manufacturers for allegedly conspiring to restrict container supply and fix prices during the Covid-era supply chain crisis. — AFP pic

WASHINGTON, May 20 — The US yesterday announced the indictment of seven Chinese executives and four of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers for allegedly conspiring to limit output of their products and fix prices.

The indicted companies manufacture about 95 per cent of the world’s standard dry shipping containers, and their alleged scheme to choke container supplies — during the Covid pandemic and related global supply chain crisis — impacted some US$35 billion in international commerce, Department of Justice officials said.

One executive, Chinese national Vick Ma of Singamas Container Holdings Ltd, was arrested in France and his extradition is pending. The six other executive co-defendants remain at large.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr told reporters that the conspiracies and price-fixing between the “Chinese cartel” of companies occurred between November 2019 and January 2024, and constituted violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

“Around the start of the global pandemic, these manufacturers exploited the crisis and their market power to squeeze the supply chain for profit,” he said, noting that company profits soared dramatically, in one case nearly 100-fold, in just two years.

“This case affected every American store shelf and every American home,” said Omees Assefi, acting assistant attorney general of the antitrust division.

“It’s about how at the height of the Covid pandemic, the defendants lined their own pockets by choking the world’s supply of shipping containers, all at the expense of the American people who suffered good shortages and surging prices,” he added.

Assefi recalled the Covid crisis that exploded in 2020, and how store shelves emptied and back orders multiplied due to supply chain disasters, prompting surges in product prices across the board. The costs of shipping containers doubled.

“As a nation, we collectively endured through that difficult time together. Meanwhile, the defendants and their co-conspirators reaped the benefits of our misery,” he said.

The announcement comes just days after US President Donald Trump completed a two-day high-stakes summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, where the two leaders had aimed to put bilateral relations, particularly regarding trade, on a more even keel.

In addition to Singamas, the indicted firms include China International Marine Containers (Group) Co; Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment Co, and CXIC Group Containers Co.

DOJ officials described the indictment as a crackdown on conspiracies to pilfer American pocketbooks.

The alleged collusion, price-fixing and supply manipulation by the Chinese companies created artificially inflated prices that were passed down to American businesses and consumers, they argued. — AFP