By Maria Kalamatas — August 27, 2025 BAGHDAD — August 27, 2025. On a dusty highway outside Basra, convoys of trucks lined up under the morning sun, their trailers marked for Dubai, Doha, and beyond. This week, Iraqi officials confirmed the first successful trial of a multimodal trade corridor linking Iraq,...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 27, 2025 BIRMINGHAM — August 27, 2025. On the edge of Birmingham’s motorway ring, a brand-new warehouse the size of several football pitches has just opened its doors. Inside, conveyor belts snake across the floor, while robotic arms lift parcels with a precision that seems almost...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 27, 2025 COLOMBO — August 27, 2025. On the tarmac at Bandaranaike International Airport, ground staff moved in quick rhythm, forklifts weaving between pallets of textiles, electronics, and seafood bound for Europe and the Middle East. Amid the bustle came the news: SriLankan Airlines will build...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 27, 2025 TOKYO — August 27, 2025. In a modest conference room overlooking Tokyo Bay, officials from Japan and the United States signed an agreement that could reshape the way goods flow across the Pacific. The deal, brokered between Japan’s TradeTech consortium and U.S.-based TradeWaltz, aims...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 27, 2025 YOKOHAMA — August 27, 2025. On a muggy summer afternoon, shoppers in central Yokohama paused as a boxy, knee-high robot hummed past. Its lid blinked with small LED lights, and a faint electronic chime announced its presence. Some people pulled out phones to take...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 25, 2025 BRUSSELS — August 25, 2025. In a decision that stunned small exporters overnight, several European postal operators have suspended parcels bound for the United States after Washington scrapped its long-standing $800 de minimis exemption. The change means every shipment, no matter how small, now faces...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 25, 2025 NEW YORK — August 25, 2025. The quiet removal of a single customs rule in Washington has triggered ripple effects stretching from Shenzhen factories to European warehouses. By eliminating the $800 de minimis threshold — the duty-free allowance that kept small cross-border parcels flowing...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 25, 2025 BRUSSELS — August 25, 2025. At postal centers in Frankfurt and Milan, parcels bound for the United States sat untouched this weekend, a direct consequence of Washington’s decision to abolish its $800 duty-free de minimis threshold. For Europe’s logistics providers, the change has landed...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 25, 2025 NEW DELHI — August 25, 2025. The normally steady flow of small parcels from India to the United States has come to an abrupt halt. Over the weekend, India Post announced the suspension of most postal services to the U.S., citing a lack of...
By Maria Kalamatas — August 25, 2025 ISTANBUL — August 25, 2025. At Istanbul’s vast cargo terminal this morning, handlers in reflective vests rushed to load pallets of electronics, textiles, and medical supplies into the belly of a Boeing 777 freighter. The destination board read Almaty, one of four new routes...
