Global Scans · Trade · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Global trade policies could be upended with a new President in the White House, Brexit, a potential break-up of the European Union and China reacting to these changes in profound ways.

• [New] Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are emerging as potential hydrogen production hubs, which could eventually stimulate downstream fuel cell deployment as export and domestic energy markets evolve. Vantage Market Research
• [New] U.S. tariffs will have implications for nearshoring strategies. Northern Trust
• [New] Guatemala presents opportunities in the digital trade sector, particularly in e-commerce, fintech, and digital services. Roza.Pace@trade.gov
• [New] Export gains are mainly intra-EU, primarily to Germany, and are expected to provide significant support for GDP growth. economic-research.bnpparibas.com
• [New] From the US-China trade war to tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the economic fallout of the Russia-Ukraine War, geopolitical risk has returned to the center of global economic policymaking. CEPR
• [New] With global trade volumes expected to rise, ports in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East are deploying advanced terminal operating systems and predictive analytics to manage congestion. Persistence Market Research
• [New] Tariffs are anticipated to increase prices for American households - at least in the short term - forcing them to make choices about spending. Aon
• [New] War has overtaken civil unrest as the political violence exposure companies fear most (53% of all respondents globally), as conflicts in Europe and the Middle East disrupt global trade flows, strain political alliances, embolden adversarial powers and heighten risks to business assets. iNLIP
• [New] In coming years, growth in Chinese exports is expected to fall back to levels closer to global trade growth, while import growth is expected to lag behind growth in domestic consumption. BOFIT
• [New] China produces significantly more than it consumes, and the trade surplus is expected to remain large throughout the forecast period. BOFIT
• [New] With momentum building around intra-African trade and regional value chain development, and with the UK hosting the G20 and Ethiopia hosting COP 32 in 2027, there is a timely opportunity to align trade, investment, climate and development agendas. ODI: Think change
• [New] Unresolved tensions and disputes between Canada and the United States are expected to continue weighing on trade throughout the year. BDC.ca
• [New] Ongoing tensions in the Middle East, particularly disruptions affecting Gulf trade lanes, forced CMA CGM to reconfigure services and deploy alternative multimodal logistics corridors to maintain cargo flows. MarineLink
• [New] Ultimately, Asia is beginning to trade less like a geographic region and more like a giant balance-sheet sorting machine, separating future AI infrastructure winners from economies still primarily tethered to commodity sensitivity and imported inflation risk. investing.com
• [New] Despite the US lifting export restrictions on some advanced AI hardware, Beijing has not let local buyers acquire any: Nvidia recently told investors it does not expect to win any revenue from China for the foreseeable future. theregister
• [New] Future growth will be driven by digitalization, regional trade agreements, and sustainable infrastructure development, positioning Latin America as a key player in global grain trade. Verified Market Reports
• [New] DNV forecasts international trade in hydrogen derivatives will expand robustly. MarineLink
• [New] In a significant victory, MEPs forced the insertion of a clause warning that the EU could reinstall tariffs on American products such as motorbikes if the US did not drop tariffs on steel derivatives - products involving an element of steel - by the end of the year. The Guardian
• Two USGC projects coming online this year and next year will add a combined 660,000 b/d of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) export capacity: the Enterprise Port Neches LPG terminal that began service in April; and Enterprise's expansion at its Houston Ship Channel location. EIA - Energy Information Administration
• The importance of Chinese imports is set to continue in the near term, with the tariff exemption running until 2028. IEA
• The Middle East war is expected to exert a modest but meaningful drag on near-term growth through renewed supply chain disruptions, higher shipping costs, and increased uncertainty around energy and trade flows. The Plan Advocate
• In 2026, continued policy support for infrastructure and export manufacturing is expected to sustain high demand for construction-grade cellulose aethers. / China Persistence Market Research
• The International Maritime Organization's 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas target has created an inescapable imperative: the fleet of approximately 55,000 ocean-going vessels that moves 90% of global trade must transition to fuels that produce no net carbon emissions. Jaysons Chemical Industries

Last updated: 28 May 2026