The United States Department of Justice has indicted four major Chinese shipping container manufacturers and seven executives on allegations they conspired to restrict container production and fix prices in a scheme that allegedly impacted billions of dollars in global commerce.
These companies include China International Marine Containers, or CIMC, Singamas Container Holdings, Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment, and CXIC Group Containers.
In an X post, FBI said four of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers and seven Chinese executives were indicted in an alleged global conspiracy to “restrict the output of — and fix the prices of” standard unrefrigerated shipping containers. According to the agency, the scheme affected billions of dollars in commerce and allegedly ran from as early as November 2019 through at least January 2024.
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The DOJ said that the conspiracy “roughly doubled the prices of standard shipping containers between 2019 and 2021, increasing the container manufacturers’ profits approximately one hundredfold during the Covid-19 pandemic and global supply chain crisis.”
The indictment also cites corporate conversations and emails. The executives indicted include the marketing director of Singamas Container Holdings, who was arrested in France in April and is currently awaiting extradition to the United States.
According to a CNBC report, the DOJ said several “conspirators” agreed to limit production shifts, install surveillance cameras to monitor compliance, ban the construction of new factories, and impose penalties on members that exceeded agreed output ceilings. The DOJ also claims the companies collectively makes 95% of the world’s standard unrefrigerated shipping containers.
Tianchen Xu, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit said that China will likely see the indictment as another instance of “unlawful extraterritorial jurisdiction” by foreign government. While Washington and Beijing had moved to stabilize ties between the two nations during their summit in Beijing last week, Trump would have limited power over an independent judiciary, according to Xu.
The DOJ may be pushing to expand its sanctions list to include more Chinese companies, but moving against Beijing’s firms risks imperiling any prospect of a September visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the U.S., said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group.
The indictment, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in January, was unsealed by the U.S. government Tuesday. Hong Kong-listed shares of CIMC and Singamas fell 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively, on Wednesday.