Howard and Ali enter into a contract where Ali has to ship goods within six weeks of signing the ...

 Ali's actions constitute an anticipatory breach. An anticipatory breach (or anticipatory repudiation) of a contract occurs when a contracting party informs the other party in advance that he or she will not perform his or her contractual duties when due. Where there is an anticipatory repudiation, the nonbreaching party'sHoward's, in this caseobligations under the contract are discharged immediately. Howard also has the right to sue Ali when the anticipatory breach occurs; there is no need to wait until performance is due.
 

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