Samsung's $186M CMA CGM Case Is a Warning for Importers

Samsung Electronics just asked the Federal Maritime Commission to force CMA CGM to pay back $186 million in what it calls unlawful shipping charges.1 It is the largest detention and demurrage complaint ever filed at the FMC, and it is not really a story about Samsung. It is a story about billing practices that hit every importer who has ever gotten a demurrage invoice they didn't understand and paid anyway because arguing felt riskier than writing the check.

If you import goods into the US, this case is worth five minutes of your attention. Not because you'll ever file a nine-figure complaint, but because the rules Samsung is using to fight CMA CGM already protect you, right now, on every container you move.

Quick definitions if you need them: demurrage is the fee a carrier or terminal charges when your container sits at the port past its free time. Detention is the fee charged when you keep the carrier's container or chassis outside the terminal past the free days allowed. Both are billed separately from your freight rate, and both are exactly what Samsung's complaint is about.

What Samsung Says CMA CGM Did

The complaint covers "store door" contracts CMA CGM had with Samsung between 2020 and 2023.1 Under those deals, CMA CGM was responsible for arranging and paying rail and truck transport from the port to Samsung's inland warehouses, then billing Samsung for it. Samsung alleges CMA CGM billed for inland moves it mishandled, charged demurrage and detention it wasn't entitled to, and racked up more than 121,000 disputed charges across the period.2

The detail that should get every importer's attention is the next one. Samsung claims CMA CGM used "finance holds," freezing cargo release on unrelated, current shipments, to pressure Samsung into paying old, disputed invoices.2 That's not a niche accounting dispute. That's a carrier allegedly holding today's inventory hostage to collect on last year's argument.

The breakdown: $148 million in disputed demurrage, detention, and rail storage charges, $8.1 million in costs Samsung says it incurred working around the holds, and $30 million in prejudgment interest.2 The FMC notified CMA CGM of the complaint on September 1, 2026. An initial decision isn't due until September 2027, with a final Commission ruling scheduled for March 2028.1 This will take years to resolve. The rules it's testing apply today, on your shipments.

The Rule That Already Protects You

Most importers don't know the FMC finalized a rule that spells out exactly what a demurrage or detention invoice has to include, and how fast a carrier has to send it.3 Under 46 CFR Part 541, a vessel carrier or marine terminal operator has 30 calendar days from the date charges stop accruing to send you an invoice.3 Miss that window, and the charge is void.

The invoice itself also has to carry specific information: the container number, the dates the charge covers, the port or terminal, the applicable rate, and instructions for disputing it, among other required fields.4 Here's the part that surprises most importers: under 46 CFR 541.6, if an invoice is missing any of that required information, you don't owe the charge. Not "you can negotiate it down." You don't owe it, full stop, until the carrier reissues a compliant invoice within the 30-day window.4

In practice, a lot of demurrage and detention invoices that get paid without a second look would fail this test. Nobody checks, because checking feels like it will slow down cargo release or damage the carrier relationship. It won't. The rule exists specifically so a shipper can dispute a bad invoice without losing access to their container.

What Changed in January 2026

The rule got narrower, then wider again, over the past year. In September 2025, the DC Circuit ruled in World Shipping Council v. FMC that the Commission had overstepped by restricting which party a carrier could bill.5 The FMC's January 2026 follow-up rule formally removed that restriction, which means motor carriers can be billed directly again when they're in contractual privity with the ocean carrier.5

What didn't change: the 30-day invoicing deadline, the required invoice fields, and your right to dispute a charge and have it resolved within a set timeframe all stayed fully intact.5 If you use a trucker with a direct contract with the ocean carrier, check who's actually being billed for detention on your next move. The pool of who can send you that invoice widened this year. What a valid invoice has to look like didn't.

A Five-Minute Audit for Your Next D&D Invoice

Before your team or forwarder pays the next demurrage or detention invoice, check it against this list:

• Timing: Was it issued within 30 days of the last day the charge applied? If not, you likely don't owe it.

• Container and reference numbers: Do they match your actual shipment?

• Date range and rate: Are the exact dates being charged and the per-day rate both stated, not just a lump sum?

• Free time calculation: Does the invoice show when free time started and ended, and does that match your terminal's own records?

• Dispute instructions: Does it tell you how and where to dispute the charge, with a contact and a timeframe?

Missing any of those fields is grounds to reject the invoice outright, in writing, and ask for a corrected one. Keep a copy of what you sent and when. If a dispute doesn't get resolved through the carrier, you can escalate to the FMC's Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services before filing a formal complaint.

Quick Answers for Importers

Do I have to pay a disputed demurrage invoice before I can fight it? No. FMC rules let you dispute a charge in writing without paying first, and a carrier can't hold that dispute against your ability to move future cargo, though Samsung's complaint alleges CMA CGM did exactly that.

Does this only apply to full container loads? No. The billing rule applies to any demurrage or detention charge from a vessel-operating common carrier or marine terminal operator, regardless of whether your cargo moves as FCL or LCL.

Does my freight forwarder handle this automatically? Not always. Many forwarders pay D&D invoices as a pass-through cost without checking them against the required fields, then bill you. Ask yours directly whether they audit these invoices before paying.

Why This Matters More With Peak Season Underway

D&D disputes spike exactly when port congestion and blank sailings do, because free time gets eaten up by factors outside an importer's control: vessel delays, chassis shortages, terminal congestion. If your ocean freight is arriving into a backed-up port this quarter, or your cargo moves inland under a drayage or rail contract you don't fully control, this is exactly the kind of charge that piles up without anyone on your team flagging it.

Samsung had an internal team dedicated to tracking this. Most importers don't, and most freight forwarders won't push back on a carrier invoice unless asked to. That's the actual gap this case exposes: the rules protecting shippers are solid. Almost nobody uses them.

What To Do Before Your Next Invoice Lands

You don't need a legal team to use these protections. You need someone checking every D&D invoice against the required fields before it gets paid, and a standing rule that anything missing a field gets disputed, not approved. If your current forwarder pays these invoices on autopilot, ask them directly how many D&D charges they've disputed on your account in the last year. If the answer is zero, that's not because your invoices have been perfect.

Cubic audits demurrage and detention invoices against FMC requirements before they get paid on your behalf, not after. If you want your shipments reviewed, get in touch, or read our full breakdown of how to build a dispute process in our demurrage and detention dispute playbook.