Chinese companies probed over cuts to shipping container production before pandemic

Politics U.S. probing whether Chinese companies cut production of shipping containers before COVID pandemic By Jennifer Jacobs, Jennifer Jacobs Senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News. Read Full Bio Jennifer Jacobs, Jacob Rosen Jacob Rosen Justice Department Reporter Jake Rosen is a reporter covering the Department of Justice. He was previously a campaign digital reporter covering President Trump's 2024 campaign and also served as an associate producer for "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." Read Full Bio Jacob Rosen May 19, 2026 / 11:31 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Federal authorities are examining whether Chinese companies deliberately restricted the world's production of storage containers for the shipping trade just before the COVID-19 pandemic began six years ago, sources with knowledge of the probe told CBS News. Investigators have been looking at a handful of Chinese firms that together control the majority of unrefrigerated shipping container manufacturing around the globe, the sources said.The companies in late 2019 slowed production by restricting the number of hours employees worked, which the investigators believed indicated was a conspiracy to cut global supply and inflate prices, two of the sources said.Spokespeople for the Justice Department didn't immediately comment.The companies' alleged moves came just before the global supply chain came under enormous strain.China reported the first cluster of COVID-19 cases in December 2019 and the outbreak spread in early 2020. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, in the second half of 2020, the number of shipping containers in circulation was "insufficient to meet customer storage demands and higher than anticipated consumer demand for imports." The commission said that "unexpected recovery in demand shocked the distribution system."  Several Chinese executives have been indicted, two of the sources said. The Depa...