Global trade grew in 2025 despite Trump tariffs, two reports show

(Neil Irwin – Axios) If you only read the headlines, you might guess that global trade came to a standstill in the last year as the U.S. put into place a new tariff regime. You would be 180 degrees wrong. Trade flows proved surprisingly robust last year, with the imposition of high U.S. tariffs changing the patterns and volumes, but not upending the basic reality of a deeply interconnected world economy. That’s the upshot of two reports out this week, one from the World Trade Organization and the other from the consulting firm McKinsey. It reflects China rerouting its exports away from the U.S. and toward Europe and emerging markets — as well as the AI investment boom that created a surge in U.S. imports of semiconductors and related products. The WTO’s latest global trade outlook finds 4.6% growth in global goods trade last year, representing both AI-related products and front-loading by U.S. importers looking to avoid tariffs. – Global trade grew in 2025 despite Trump tariffs, two reports show