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Upheaval in the World Trading System: The Roots Go Deeper Than Trump

Upheaval in the World Trading System: The Roots Go Deeper Than Trump
Cars waiting to be loaded for export in Nanjing Port, Jiangsu Province, China, on Nov. 6, 2025. STR/AFP via Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
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Commentary

Depending on who is speaking, President Donald Trump gets most of the credit or blame for all the current upheaval in the global trading system. He certainly has contributed, with shifting tariffs, port fees, and a succession of trade deals with U.S. trading partners.

Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is “Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live.”