Reshaped Global Commerce: Wall Street Journal

The trade war between the US and China in the past two years has contributed to slowing global trade growth. Imports for both the US and China declined in 2019 due to additional tariffs and the global trade system has made adjustments. A Wall Street Journal article describes which regions benefited from the dispute: In Asia, cellphones made in Vietnam are growing rapidly while other east and southeast Asian countries also recording gains in US shipments. The two largest economies In Latin America, Mexico and Brazil, gained as well. China turned from purchasing US soybeans and boosted Brazil’s exports, before growth slowed in 2019 due to an outbreak of African swine fever in China, which decreased demand for soybeans as animal feed. Exports of French aircraft grew fast mainly, owing to the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max jets. However, the threat of US tariffs on automobile imports still hangs over Europe. With a first-stage truce by two countries, global trade may recover this year. However, China’s coronavirus outbreak poses more uncertainty to global trade and supply chain. – YaleGlobal