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 Images1/14/2026|Updated: 1/14/2026CommentaryDepending on who is speaking, President Donald Trump gets most of the credit/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 America’s trading partners.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.”Author’s Selected Articles