Trade flows have been reassessed in the past few years due to the heavy blows dealt by US-China geopolitical tensions. What do Washington and Beijing bring to the table and how can we better understand their respective objectives amid the numerous networks of trade and investment they influence? And what does this mean for the future of sustainable trade in an era that has become increasingly defined by a pushback toward globalization?

While global trade has largely recovered from the economic shock dealt by Covid-19 and global trade volumes are “rising at this point relative to 2019”, the experience of Covid-19 has started to reshape certain trade patterns, said Nathan Picarsic of Horizon Advisory. Corporations and governments have had to find new ways to reorganize their supply chains as well as manage risks that their trade patterns may have invited in the post-Covid era.

New narratives have emerged that have been impacted by the US-China dynamic, but this has not resulted in a broad decoupling of US-China trade. According to de la Bruyère, China has remained a strong and dominant player while engaging with trading partners. Despite suggestions that China’s role in global trade and industry is disappearing in our post-Covid world, the country’s global export value remains high and “relatively consistent.”

Watch this recap to understand how the pandemic, US-China trade tensions, and other developments have affected global trade flows and what is their long-term impact on the trade landscape.

The educational program took place on Thursday, August 3, and was moderated by Oheneba Ama Nti Osei, business journalist and Managing Editor at PYMNTS. This program was developed within the scope of AFPC-USA’s partnership with the Hinrich Foundation.