The Biden administration is embarking on an ambitious diplomatic initiative to create a “grand bargain” in the Middle East, notably involving the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This represents a notable departure from President Biden’s previous approach, which saw a reluctance to get deeply involved in the region’s intricate challenges.

The saga of 16,000 metric tons of stranded German steel pipes encapsulates the far-reaching turmoil unleashed by the Trump administration’s aggressive trade and industrial policy pivot — a sweeping attempt to rebuild domestic shipbuilding by penalizing Chinese-built vessels calling at U.S. ports. What began as a strategic push to counter China’s dominance in global maritime supply chains has rapidly morphed into a potential crisis for U.S. exporters, logistics providers, port cities, and consumers.

Under a proposal by the U.S. Trade Representative, ships built in China — which comprise a dominant share of the global fleet — could face per-call levies of up to $3.5 million. For some companies, the new rules make transatlantic shipping nearly unaffordable. For smaller U.S. ports like Charleston and Oakland, already on the margins of global shipping routes, the threat is existential: major carriers are signaling they may bypass these ports entirely to avoid penalties, concentrating activity in a few larger hubs and pushing up costs across the board.

The Biden administration announced on Thursday the easing of export restrictions for U.S. commercial space companies, a move designed to facilitate the growth of the space industry while maintaining national security. This change will enable companies like SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris Technologies, and…