Maersk has moved the start of its $250-a-container peak season surcharge on West Mediterranean cargo to the US and Canada to Dec 1, its customer notice shows. The charge covers every box type from ports across southern Europe and North Africa, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Morocco.

The date has slipped three times. Maersk first set the surcharge to start Oct 5, then moved it to Oct 7, then to Nov 1, and now to Dec 1. It made the same move on its East Mediterranean surcharge, $250 a box from Turkey, Egypt, Israel and nearby ports, which now also starts Dec 1. Neither notice gives a reason.

MSC has charged a peak season surcharge of $400 per 20-foot and $600 per 40-foot container since Oct 1, on dry and reefer cargo from the West Med, the Adriatic and Israel to the US, Canada and Mexico, according to its customer advisory.

CMA CGM has charged a rate restoration fee of $250 per 20-foot and $500 per 40-foot box on West Med cargo to the US and Canada since Sept 15, per its notice, and set the same amounts again from Oct 1 in new notices for the US and Canada.

Importers on the same lane now pay different extra charges depending on which carrier moves the box.

An importer moving 10 forty-foot boxes a month from Valencia to the US, for example, would pay $6,000 a month in surcharges with MSC, by our math. The same boxes would carry $5,000 with CMA CGM. With Maersk, they carry nothing until Dec 1, then $2,500 a month.

Importers of Italian and Spanish food, wine, olive oil, tile and furniture feel this first, because they goods ship from the ports these charges cover.

Canadian importers are exposed too: CMA CGM’s Canada charge covers cargo from Italy, France and Spain, and MSC’s covers Canada and Mexico.

Importers of Spanish olive oil and tile are also watching an FMC proposal that would let the US hold ships unloading those goods, alongside a separate plan for a $200,000 fee on Spanish-flagged ships.