Episode 37: 2026 in Focus - Trade Policy in the Year Ahead

In this first episode for 2026, Peter and Pru look at the key developments likely to impact trade policy in the coming year. They break these down into three areas.

The first is US domestic factors likely to constrain President Trump’s trade unilateralism. These include US inflation, US bond and stock market fluctuations, the US Supreme Court’s decision on the President’s use of IEEPA powers to impose tariffs, and US Congressional elections in November.

Pru and Peter then look at Canadian Prime Minister Carney’s invitation to middle powers to work together to counter the impact of trade unilateralism by the major powers. Pru and Peter explore the scope for middle power cooperation as well as the difficulties in achieving it.

Peter and Pru then turn to China and the potential for China’s domestic economic developments and international actions to impact global trade.

They finish with a quick look at how Australia is placed and what the Australian Government is doing to navigate the country through the quagmire.