By: Ian Hunter, Director, OCO Global 2025 has been a big year for M&A.  In a year when cranes aren’t the only measure of progress, much of the action has been happening on cap tables as well as construction sites. But the cranes will come later. As with many of these deals, the key words following an acquisition is 'growth'.  In short, European investors are buying in, and scaling up. In December 2024, Novo Holdings completed its $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent, the U.S. contract manufacturer whose sterile fill-finish lines...

By Luis F. Arandia Jr., Adetayo Osuntogun, and Michelle Rosario, Barnes & Thornburg LLP On Sept. 29, 2025, the White House issued a presidential proclamation imposing tariffs of 10 to 50 percent ad valorem on timber, lumber, and derivative wood products imported into the United States. These tariffs were imposed under Section 232. Citing national security concerns, the proclamation follows a U.S. Department of Commerce investigation which concluded that rising imports threaten the U.S. wood industry’s ability to support critical infrastructure and...

Is China slapping back? The country has amended its maritime regulations, potentially imposing countermeasures such as higher port charges or even barring U.S.-service vessels from Chinese ports. The rules, aimed at countries imposing discriminatory restrictions on Chinese shipping, just raised the stakes in the trans-Pacific trade dispute. In response, some carriers are already shifting vessel deployment. Be prepared for the changes to impact costs, routing, and supply chain resilience for shippers on both sides. A 25% truck tariff aims to shield U.S. truck...

Highlights • We expect global growth to slow below 2% in the second half of 2025 before rebounding to 2.5% in 2026. • We anticipate that tariffs will increasingly bite, driving prices higher, reducing real incomes and causing real spending to decline. • Despite that, we see the tariff-related divot in global economic activity as smaller and more short-lived than feared as 2025 began. In a new report from Citi Research, Chief Economist Nathan Sheets and a team of analysts and economists outline...

Global Ports The Headlines: U.S. trade policy is having a notable impact on global trade, despite months of delays and uncertainty. Data shows that in August, China began shipping more to ASEAN countries and less to the U.S., while also bringing attention to the issue of illegal transshipment. The upcoming U.S. port fees are also reshaping trade lanes, with many Chinese-built ships being rerouted to non-U.S. trades. The dynamics of the global supply chain trade (and the ports it relies...

Transshipment has fast become the second most important word in trade, after tariff. The reason is that the U.S. government is intensifying its oversight of importers suspected of using transshipment through third countries to evade duties on Chinese goods. And the risks and costs of violating the rules can be severe. This increased scrutiny comes as shifting trade flows highlight how exporters are adjusting to the new tariff environment. In August, China’s exports to the U.S. fell 33% year-over-year, while shipments...