Trade
Why 2026 Is Poised to Be Another Rocky Year for Global Trade
The US, Canada and Mexico are about to start reviewing the North American free-trade deal that took effect in 2020.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Getty ImagesThe global trading system, which is finishing up one of its most transformational years of the past century, heads into another facing more challenges to stability and growth.
Merchandise trade across the world held up relatively well through 2025, even as US President Donald Trump started erecting a tariff wall around the world’s largest economy. Data cited this week by shipping industry veteran John McCown show global container volumes grew 2.1% in October from a year earlier.