Chad P. Bown (Peterson Institute for International Economics) hosts a podcast about the economics of international trade and policy. From trade wars to trade deals, this podcast covers trade developments with insights and economic analysis from one of the world's top trade geeks.
Soumaya Keynes (Financial Times) joins to cohost an emergency episode explaining President Trump’s sweeping April 2 tariff announcement. Bown and Keynes turn to Douglas A. Irwin on history, Maurice Obstfeld on the US dollar, and Kathleen Claussen on law to clarify what we know about the tariff actions so far (29:14).
29 min
16 March 2025
206. Paul Krugman talks trade, industrial policy, and Trump
Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman (City University of New York) joins for a wide-ranging conversation on historical lessons as well as some new thinking about international trade, the “agglomeration economies” driving geographically concentrated production, industrial policy, as well as the policy environment under President Trump (42:12).
42 min
11 March 2025
205. Trump's Ukraine minerals deal and China
A potential US-Ukraine critical minerals agreement is only the latest effort to address security concerns over US sourcing of critical minerals from China. America’s previous top diplomat for critical minerals, Geoff Pyatt (former Assistant Secretary of State, former US ambassador to Ukraine) joins to explain (33.47).
33 min
6 March 2025
204. Is Europe ready for Trump?
Europe had a rocky ride during President Trump's first term, but it was largely spared from significant tariffs. The world is different this time around. Former European Commission trade official Rupert Schlegelmilch joins to explain (34:32).
34 min
23 February 2025
203. What if Trump halts duty-free packages from China?
Shipments of small packages from China have skyrocketed, but the de minimis policy that excludes them from tariffs may end. Chris Casey (Congressional Research Service) joins to explore the history of the US de minimis policy and Amit Khandelwal (Yale University) shares economic research into the question of what happens if the policy ends (37:33).
37 min
14 February 2025
202. Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs are back
President Trump first imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in 2018, but this time it's different. Ana Swanson (New York Times) joins to explain (32:23).
32 min
8 February 2025
201. Trade Talks is back. And so is President Trump.
Tariffs from the new President call for an emergency relaunch of the longstanding trade podcast. Aime Williams (Financial Times) joins to explain what happened with Canada, Mexico, and China (29:50). Read more…
29 min
30 January 2024
And that is all for Trade Talks
Goodbye for now, as old friend Soumaya Keynes joins Chad Bown to discuss why and what comes next.
10 min
19 December 2023
200. Has the USMCA improved working conditions in Mexico?
The USMCA was supposed to prevent workers from being mistreated at Mexican factories. How is it working so far?
46 min
10 December 2023
199. How trade economists busted corruption at the port
When customs officials in Madagascar cheated their country out of tax revenues, economists caught them. But the fight is not over yet.
