Are Donald Trump's tariffs changing global trade for good? As the US and China compete for economic influence, former US trade negotiator Wendy Cutler explains what the new global trade order means for businesses, investors and governments.

In this episode of Economic Security Watch from fDi Intelligence, host Danielle Myles speaks to Wendy Cutler, former acting deputy US trade representative and senior vice-president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

They explore how US trade policy is shifting away from traditional free trade agreements towards tariffs, economic security and investment commitments and whether the international trading system can adapt.

The conversation covers the future of US-China trade relations, the USMCA agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada, China's industrial overcapacity, South Korea's investment pledges and the growing pressure to reform World Trade Organisation rules.

Cutler also examines whether Trump's tariffs could outlast his administration, how the 2026 US midterm elections might affect trade policy, and why countries are increasingly looking beyond Washington to build new economic partnerships.

Timestamps

00:00 - US Trade Policy & North America

06:57 - US-China Trade & WTO Challenges

11:31 - New Investment Strategies & Tariffs

14:53 - Modernising US Trade Laws

17:46 - Congressional Influence on Policy

fDi Intelligence's Economic Security Watch podcast keeps you in the know as investors navigate a world increasingly viewed through a national security lens. Read our leading analysis here. Episodes will be delivered monthly, corresponding to our Economic Security newsletter. Sign up here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Trump administration’s warnings over the reliability of US security guarantees have created a new paradigm for European defence start-ups and capital.

Calls have grown for regional unity and softer intra-EU borders to help scale early-stage ventures making the technologies that underpin modern warfare. But funding and defence being constrained within national borders are causing inevitable bottlenecks.

In the latest Economic Security Watch podcast, fDi’s Danielle Myles speaks with Stanislaw Kastory, co-founder and general partner at defence venture capital firm Expeditions, about how geopolitics is changing the economics of European security.

00:00 - European Defence Ambitions

08:51 - European Self-Reliance

11:52 - Munich Warning from JD Vance

17:50 - Hybrid war threats

fDi Intelligence's Economic Security Watch podcast keeps you in the know as investors navigate a world increasingly viewed through a national security lens. Read our leading analysis here. Episodes will be delivered monthly, corresponding to our Economic Security newsletter. Sign up here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.