Jaguar Freight | The Weekly Roar: The Deals Don’t Stop

In this week’s Roar: The EU-India trade deal, a new FMC investigation, air cargo volumes, supply chain diversification, and a prediction for robots.

A new trade agreement between the EU and India has been hailed as the “mother of all deals” and has the world wondering how President Trump might respond. The pact is seen as a hedge against the ever-unpredictable U.S. trade policies, reduces tariffs on most goods, and deepens ties between the EU and India. Since the U.S. recently hiked tariffs on both partners, analysts expect Washington’s response to influence future trade relations and international alliances.

The Federal Maritime Commission has launched an investigation into whether ocean carriers are illegally restricting truckers and shippers from choosing their own chassis providers. If so, this is a possible violation of the Shipping Act. The probe follows ongoing concerns that this type of restriction unfairly affects supply chains and contravenes prior FMC rulings on chassis selection.

A healthy part of the supply chain market, global air cargo volumes are again off to a strong start in 2026, with January tonnages up 5% year-on-year, led by 15% growth from the Middle East and South Asia. Most major regions saw increases, especially on Asia-Europe routes. U.S. volumes from Southeast Asia remain solid, credited to strong e-commerce volumes.

A global supply chain trend has emerged, with many companies moving away from single-hub dependence and now relying on multinational networks to emphasize flexibility. The chaos of the early 2020s has highlighted the risks of concentrated sourcing, prompting companies to diversify production across regions such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Creating more adaptable supply chains that are geographically distributed has become a top strategy for dealing with political, environmental, and market uncertainties.

Depending on who you are, humanoid robots might represent an exciting and futuristic idea for warehouses. But according to Gartner, their role in supply chains may not ever materialize, at least in a meaningful way. Despite headline-grabbing pilot projects, the reality is high costs, immature technology, and operational limitatiions, all things that could mean these robots aren’t likely to progress beyond controlled trials. However, more practical specialized robots, like the ones with unexpected shapes, wheels, and even telescoping “arms” are proving to be more effective and cost efficient.

For the rest of the week’s top shipping news, check out the article highlights here.