Federal authorities are reportedly investigating whether Chinese companies deliberately restricted production of shipping containers just before the COVID-19 pandemic, a move that could have worsened one of the most painful supply chain shocks in recent history.
According to an exclusive report from CBS News, the probe focuses on a small group of Chinese firms that dominate the global manufacturing of unrefrigerated shipping containers. Investigators are examining whether the companies slowed production in late 2019 by limiting employee work hours, a step authorities believe could point to a plot to reduce global supply and push prices higher.
Several Chinese executives have been indicted, two sources told the network, and the Justice Department was expected to unseal the indictment Tuesday. The timing is central to the case as China reported the first cluster of COVID-19 cases in December 2019, and the outbreak spread globally in early 2020.
Within months, factories shut down, and companies struggled to move merchandise across oceans as the pandemic raged. The U.S. International Trade Commission later described the chaos as a two-part shock. "The contraction of U.S. merchandise trade in the first half of 2020, coupled with a slowdown in manufacturing in China, led container shipping firms to cancel scheduled sailings (called 'blank sailings') and consolidate shipping routes to focus service on major ports in the first half of 2020," the USITC wrote.
In the first half of 2020, U.S. maritime container imports fell 7% by volume compared with the same period in 2019. But in the second half of 2020 imports surged 9.5%, and fourth-quarter containerized imports jumped 16.4% year over year. The commission said the number of containers in circulation was not enough to meet storage needs and stronger-than-expected import demand.
The report comes days after U.S President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for more than two hours in Beijing, with discussions touching on Iran and Chinese investment in the United States. The White House said both sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz "must remain open," though China's official readout did not mention it. Xi also reportedly told the numerous CEOs accompanying Trump during his visit that "China's door will only open wider and wider" for them.
A 2025 report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said, "For nearly three decades, China has targeted the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance and has employed increasingly aggressive and specific targets in pursuing dominance of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors," creating economic and security risks for the United States.
In 2022, the Justice Department said China International Marine Containers abandoned a planned acquisition of Maersk Container Industry after an antitrust review. DOJ said the deal would have combined two of the world's four suppliers of insulated container boxes and refrigerated shipping containers, and would have put more than 90% of global refrigerated container production under Chinese state-owned or state-controlled entities.
