The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of seven Chinese executives and four companies which are among the largest producers of containers in the world, China International Marine Containers (Group) Co. (CIMC), Singamas Container Holdings, CXIC Group Containers Co. and Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment Co. (which manufactures and sells containers under the brand name Dong Fang International Containers). The accusation is that he conspired in order to limit container production and manipulate the prices of almost all the the world's standard non-refrigerated containers for over four years, from November 2019 until at least January 2024, in violation of the Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act which declares unlawful any contract, association or conspiracy in restriction of trade between states or with foreign nations.

Announcing that one of the executives, Vick Nam Hing Ma, director marketing of Singapore, was arrested on 14 April in France and his extradition to the United States is in progress, while six co-defendants, managers of the company, are still on the run, the US Department of Statistics and Drug Administration denounced that "the A multi-year conspiracy has practically doubled the prices of standard containers between 2019 and 2021, increasing the profits of container manufacturers of about a hundred times during the pandemic of Covid-19 and the global supply chain crisis".

Commenting on the indictment, Stanley Woodward, who on April 2 2025 was appointed by President Donald Trump to the role of Associate Attorney General, the third highest office in the Department of Justice, has lashed out at the previous government administration of Joe Biden who in his opinion "He considered it appropriate - he denounced referring to evidently the federal proceedings against Trump - give priority to the to the instrumentalization of the Department through originals legal theories of criminal prosecution instead of focusing on on the criminals most responsible for manipulating the markets to profit from a global pandemic. Fortunately - added Woodward - this Department has corrected this error, eliminating the instrumental use by the government and giving Priority to ensure affordable prices for all Americans".

The acting assistant attorney general of the Antitrust division of the Department, Omeed A. Assefi, appointed at the beginning of the second Trump's presidential mandate, said that "the signs global price fixing agreements strike at the heart of our economic freedom. During the Covid pandemic - he underlined - the defendants held the escorts hostage shipping containers, when our supply chain needed it most. They robbed the American citizens, who as a result paid more and had to wait longer to receive goods essential".

The Department has announced that the defendants are accused, among others, of having met on November 14 2019 at CIMC headquarters in Shenzhen to agree on a increase in the price of dry cargo containers through the limitation of the number of shifts and hours of operation of each dry container production line, through the installation of 87 video surveillance cameras on all 49 production lines of this type of container for ensure that companies did not exceed the agreed limits. In addition, they would have decided to prohibit the construction of new container factories and to set up a fund that would provide for a mechanism to financially sanction any violation of the production limitation agreement.

Violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison, a fine of one million dollars for the individuals and a maximum penalty of $100 million for companies.

This is not the first time that the Donald's administration has Trump takes China's production industry into his sights intermodal containers, to denounce their worldwide and that he deliberately acted to manipulate the prices of containers. Waiting to know the thesis in detail of the prosecution, it is not difficult to imagine what could be be some counter-deductions from the Chinese side, starting of course the effects on container production of the lockdown implemented to counter the spread of the pandemic, with a reduction in of productive activities that were instead rapidly reinstated when restrictions eased and, above all, when the world demand for containerized transport suffered An exceptional surge in mid-2020 with the attenuation of the health emergency.

Chinese container manufacturers could argue, not without foundation, that in the period characterized by the pandemic, and in the following phase, the trend of their production and their economic results were in line with the main global container shipping companies.