So I offer this anecdote is for any interested anons concerning shipping equipment (and stuff made with certain types of steel) out of China to the US. I am not sure if this affects other destinations than the US.
Certain types of things shipping out of China are experiencing enormous delays. For example, CNC machines (Tormach parts specifically) and others and certain types of partial assemblies which are shipped from China to the US are being held in customs allegedly pending investigations including 3 years of tax records and detailed information on bank accounts of the Chinese companies doing the shipping.
Finished products are mostly OK (think consumer goods.) Partially finished products and products containing certain types of steel are allegedly more closely scrutinized.
The reason I became aware of this is because I know of a shipment of industrial equipment that has been delayed for well over a month. Said equipment is sitting in Chinese customs pending release. A faction I spoke to is knowledgeable about the situation on the ground (China) and gave me all sorts of details about what they're seeing (customs office habbenings, etc.) Apparently, there's a large list of things and if your item(s) are on that list, you're scrutinized heavily. This faction indicated they have never seen anything like this and they have a long history of shipping to the US and have never had this problem before the last few months.
So….take this for what you will. I mention it because I haven't seen a peep about this fly by.
If I were to read tea leaves, I'd think there was some serious investigating going on having to do with international trade practices and rooting out Chinese-linked corruption, especially involving steel. Suprised? kek