The Federal Maritime Commission, the United States' shipping regulator, has warned it may bar entry to ships from countries found to be causing choke points at key locations around the world.

Splash 247 reports that the FMC has opened an investigation into transit constraints at international maritime chokepoints, particularly the effects of foreign governments' laws, regulations, or practices, as well as the actions of owners or operators of foreign-flag vessels on shipping conditions in these passages.

The shipping routes under investigation include the English Channel, the Malacca Strait, the Northern Sea Passage, the Singapore Strait, the Panama Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Suez Canal.

“Remedial measures the Commission can take in issuing regulations to address conditions unfavorable to shipping in U.S. foreign trade include refusing entry to U.S. ports by vessels registered in countries responsible for creating unfavorable conditions,” the FMC warned yesterday.

The global trading order has been torn up since Donald Trump returned to power in Washington, D.C. The new administration has lashed out with tariffs, claims on the Panama Canal, and plans to charge Chinese-built ships calling in the US, among a string of policies that have unsettled world trade.

“As the Trump 2.0 reality show unfolds, as it does daily, often with singular market-moving tweets, we might as well suspend trying to make credible forecasts of future supply-demand balance across shipping sectors. Underwhelming spot earnings render shipping sentiment downbeat while we seek greater clarity on today’s geopolitical, trade, and social threats,” noted a recent report from broker Hartland Shipping.