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China, U.S. to Create Trade Board; Apple Finds Use for Flawed Chips; Landscaper Sues Deere By Mark R. Long | WSJ Logistics Report
China said it would establish bilateral boards of trade and investment with the U.S., fulfilling one expected outcome of President Trump's visit to Beijing, the WSJ's Jonathan Cheng writes. China's Ministry of Commerce also said late Saturday that the U.S. agreed to sell aircraft, and aircraft engines and components
to China.
The statement marked Beijing's first public confirmation of a trade agreement between the two sides following a two-day summit in Beijing
between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. China's Commerce Ministry characterized the results as preliminary in nature, adding that negotiators from the two sides were working to complete details of the agreed-upon points.
A U.S.-China Board of Trade would be used to discuss tariff reduction on certain products, the Chinese ministry said, without elaborating on that, or how a board of investment would operate. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday the trade board would help the two countries decide which exports are charged tariffs and which are exempted.
China's economic momentum broadly slowed in April , with consumer spending, industrial output, investment, and real estate showing deterioration. (WSJ) Stellantis and Dongfeng Group formed a $1.17 billion partnership to produce Peugeot and Jeep EVs
in China from 2027. (WSJ) Iran last week seized a support vessel
owned by a Chinese security firm near the Strait of Hormuz. (WSJ) The U.S. Meat Export Federation said China renewed export licenses
for 425 U.S. beef plants. (Bloomberg) CONTENT FROM: PENSKE LOGISTICS Gain Efficiency. Gain Ground With Penske.
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Number of the Day Manufacturing
Apple has developed a booming business selling cheaper devices. One of its secrets: using chips with slight defects
that might otherwise be thrown out, the Journal's Rolfe Winkler and Yang Jie write.
The strategy is apparent in the $599 MacBook Neo, which has the same chip powering it as was first used inside the iPhone 16 Pro, but with a difference. The Neo version has a "5-core" graphics processor, one less than the version inside the 2024 iPhones, indicating that Apple was able to save some chips with a defective core for future use.
Defective cores can be disabled, leaving a chip that still functions perfectly well to power different, often cheaper devices. It is the latest example of Apple deploying a decades-old strategy to squeeze profits from lesser-performing processors by selling them segmented by good, better and best.
Heavy Equipment
A Chicago landscaping contractor sued Deere last week in U.S. District Court in Illinois, accusing the company of many of the same antitrust violations
alleged in a recently-settled $99 million lawsuit filed by farmers who have demanded easier ways to fix their own equipment .
Repair-rights advocates hope to elevate the new complaint to class-action status, which potentially would allow thousands of owners of Deere construction and forestry equipment to join as plaintiffs. The landscaper, Christy Webber & Co., accused Deere of unfairly restricting what owners or independent mechanics can fix on the company's machines.
In Other News U.S. industrial production rose by 0.7% in April , after decreasing by an upwardly revised 0.3% in March, according to the Federal Reserve. (WSJ) Canadian manufacturing activity rebounded in March , with factory sales rising 3% to the equivalent of about $53.76 billion, the highest level in over a year. (WSJ) The House passed the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which would allow year-round sale of ethanol-blended E15 gasoline , but the bill faces Senate opposition. (WSJ) NextEra Energy is in advanced talks to buy
rival utility Dominion Energy, according to people familiar with the matter. (WSJ) Toyota Motor is considering investing $2 billion to add a vehicle assembly line
near its manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas. (WSJ) U.S. energy developer Caturus, backed by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Energy, BlackRock and other investors, has greenlit a $13 billion project to ship LNG from Louisiana's coast . (WSJ) Canada's Montreal Port Authority said former commercial officer Paul Bird will return and take over as its new CEO
on June 8. (Journal of Commerce) Brookfield Asset Management agreed to acquire
air-cargo forwarder World Freight Co. at an enterprise value of about $1.2 billion from EQT and PAI Partners. (Reuters) The Federal Highway Administration is making $3 billion in grant funding available
for projects to plan, rehabilitate, preserve or replace U.S. bridges. (Roads & Bridges) The California Air Resources Board is launching a utility-administered electric-truck rebate program , with more than $1 billion in incentives expected to be available through 2030. (Heavy Duty Trucking) The sheriff's office in Florida's Hillsborough County last week said it arrested 14 people and recovered $5 million worth of goods stolen in a multi-state retail-theft operation . (ABC7 WWSB) About Us
Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2026 07:02 ET (11:02 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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