The return of a Trump Administration to the White House in 2025 ushered in a dramatic year for global trade—shaking global economic norms and signaling radical shifts in longstanding economic policy. With import taxes at the highest levels since the Great Depression, waves of tariffs on U.S. trading partners shocked financial markets and sparked seismic rounds of negotiations over trade and investment deals. As 2026 begins, one of the things that is most certain is that the coming year will be marked by high levels of economic uncertainty.
What’s at stake and on the table? Companies and corporations are awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether a president may use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from countries around the world. If courts rule against the administration, it’s more than likely that we will see a shift to other, more-established legal authorities to keep tariffs in place. What might the next year bring for the framework deal between the U.S. and China —around such important things as softening of tariffs, agriculture, rare earth and critical minerals, tech/IP, etc. —in essence, a tactical truce aimed at de-escalating retaliatory trade dynamics? Throw into the mix the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement coming up for renewal or rewriting, among other major economic and trade issues, and this will be a year to watch.
Get a front seat and join the conversation as we are joined by Michael Mastanduno, Nelson A. Rockefeller Professor of Government at Dartmouth, for a look at the major economic and trade issues at the top of the fold as a follow-up to the Great Decisions talk January 29 on a similar topic.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michael Mastanduno is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth College. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he has held fellowships at the Brookings Institution, the East-West Center, and the Salzburg Seminar, and served as a Distinguished Fulbright Lecturer in Japan. He is the author of Economic Containment and has published widely on U.S. strategy and the implications of China’s rise for the international system. He recently authored a chapter on tariffs and the future of the world economy for the 2026 Great Decisions Briefing Book, published by the Foreign Policy Association.
