Trade Talks

Soumaya Keynes (Financial Times) joins to cohost an emergency episode explaining President Trump’s sweeping April 2 tariff announcement. Bown and Keynes turn to Douglas A. Irwin on history, Maurice Obstfeld on the US dollar, and Kathleen Claussen on law to clarify what we know about the tariff actions so far (29:14).

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman (City University of New York) joins for a wide-ranging conversation on historical lessons as well as some new thinking about international trade, the “agglomeration economies” driving geographically concentrated production, industrial policy, as well as the policy environment under President Trump (42:12).

A potential US-Ukraine critical minerals agreement is only the latest effort to address security concerns over US sourcing of critical minerals from China. America’s previous top diplomat for critical minerals, Geoff Pyatt (former Assistant Secretary of State, former US ambassador to Ukraine) joins to explain (33.47).

Europe had a rocky ride during President Trump's first term, but it was largely spared from significant tariffs. The world is different this time around. Former European Commission trade official Rupert Schlegelmilch joins to explain (34:32).

Shipments of small packages from China have skyrocketed, but the de minimis policy that excludes them from tariffs may end. Chris Casey (Congressional Research Service) joins to explore the history of the US de minimis policy and Amit Khandelwal (Yale University) shares economic research into the question of what happens if the policy ends (37:33).

President Trump first imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in 2018, but this time it's different. Ana Swanson (New York Times) joins to explain (32:23).

Tariffs from the new President call for an emergency relaunch of the longstanding trade podcast. Aime Williams (Financial Times) joins to explain what happened with Canada, Mexico, and China (29:50). Read more…

Goodbye for now, as old friend Soumaya Keynes joins Chad Bown to discuss why and what comes next.

The USMCA was supposed to prevent workers from being mistreated at Mexican factories. How is it working so far?

When customs officials in Madagascar cheated their country out of tax revenues, economists caught them. But the fight is not over yet.

What we know about the US lobbying industry and how it influences trade and other types of economic policy.

How the European Union’s controversial “posting” policy impacted the movement of workers as well as local communities across the continent.

Companies can avoid taxes by moving profits from IP royalties offshore. What would happen if that changed?

Canadian workers faced new competition after the sudden free trade agreement with the US in 1989. Why were they able to adjust so successfully?

A new way to measure China’s subsidies for shipbuilding reveals how much they transformed the industry for the country and world.

Following the Rana Plaza factory collapse, foreign companies promised to enforce Bangladesh’s new labor law. What happened next?

As trade with farm exporting countries expands, governments must also consider how to prevent deforestation.

How Brazil’s trade liberalization of the 1990s led to unexpected and lasting impacts on workers and a temporary rise in violence.

What consumers can expect from auto companies investing in supply chain resilience as weather disasters loom.

How South Korea’s Heavy and Chemical Industry Drive policy of 1973-79 worked and may have contributed to its economic rise.

What happened to workers and others in Costa Rica when global companies imposed new responsible sourcing codes of conduct on their suppliers.

How a 2001 income tax break for Romanian software programmers helped transform the country’s information technology sector.

Higher US lead standards in 2009 resulted in more production and pollution from Mexican plants. Nearby infants and kids suffered.

New quartz technology and competition from Japan devastated the dominant Swiss watch industry of the 1970s. What happened next?

EVs headlined the transatlantic dispute over the Inflation Reduction Act. That feud may be over, but other conflicts remain.