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Comment: Normalising routes, hardening rules

In mid-December, a major carrier completed a Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb passage for the first time since late ****, reviving the question of how quickly the Suez corridor can normalise. An industry estimate suggests that a broad return would reduce global shipping demand by about ** per cent. It would be an operational win that could quickly become a strategic test for planning discipline, inventory posture and emissions reporting.

That potential release in lead times is arriving alongside tougher market access signals. Over the past fortnight, Mexico advanced a **** tariff package that lifts duties by up to ** per cent on selected imports from countries without trade agreements, explicitly covering textiles and clothing. The immediate takeaway is not the headline rate, but the renewed premium on origin strategy, documentation readiness and the ability to re-route production without rework.