Global trade disruption

Extracted Attributes

• Military Response

  Operation Prosperity Guardian (led by the United States)

• Strategic Challenge

  Asymmetric Warfare

• Economic Consequences

  Increased freight costs, port delays, and supply chain volatility

• Key Affected Waterways

  Suez Canal, Panama Canal

• Major Impacted Regions

  Europe, China, United States

• Primary Current Driver

  Houthi movement attacks in the Red Sea

Timeline

• COVID-19 pandemic begins causing short-term delivery delays and global supply chain shortages. (Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2023/06/growing-threats-to-global-trade-goldberg-reed)

  2020-03-11

• Global trade records a larger number of hours in port and higher freight costs compared to the previous year due to accumulated pandemic effects. (Source: https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/gtdw_e/wkshop22_e/yuan_tian_paper.pdf)

  2021-12-31

• IMF reports on growing threats to global trade, highlighting the risks of war in a hyperglobalized era. (Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2023/06/growing-threats-to-global-trade-goldberg-reed)

  2023-06-01

• All-In Podcast Episode 158 analyzes the Red Sea shipping disruption and the impact of Houthi attacks on the Suez Canal. (Source: d6ad65b4-1ee6-41ad-b655-1afeb7fa17c9)

  2023-12-20

• UNCTAD reports that trade policy uncertainty and sudden shifts in tariffs have become major sources of global market instability. (Source: https://unctad.org/publication/global-trade-update-september-2025-trade-policy-uncertainty-looms-over-global-markets)

  2025-09-01

Camphor

Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the kapur tree (Dryobalanops sp.), a tall timber tree from South East Asia. It also occurs in some other related trees in the laurel family, notably Ocotea usambarensis. Rosemary leaves (Rosmarinus officinalis) contain 0.05 to 0.5% camphor, while camphorweed (Heterotheca) contains some 5%. A major source of camphor in Asia is camphor basil (the parent of African blue basil). Camphor can also be synthetically produced from oil of turpentine. The compound is chiral, existing in two possible enantiomers as shown in the structural diagrams. The structure on the left is the naturally occurring (+)-camphor ((1R,4R)-bornan-2-one), while its mirror image shown on the right is the (−)-camphor ((1S,4S)-bornan-2-one). Camphor has few uses but is of historic significance as a compound that is readily purified from natural sources.

Web Search Results

• [PDF] Trade Disruptions Along the Global Supply Chain

  4 Trade Disruptions at the Importer City and the Ex-porter City In this Section, we estimate the impact of demand and supply local trade disruption shocks on import variables. We start by documenting the impact of shocks at the importer and exporter location level. Then, we characterize the impact at the bilateral-product level, where we can map results to the theoretical framework in Section 3 and disentangle the impact on prices and quantities. [...] Researchers have documented the impact of natural disasters on trade, e.g., how an earth-quake disrupts domestic roads to ports and a↵ects exporting activities (Volpe and Blyde, 2013). In addition, these e↵ects also propagated along the supply linkages (Barrot and Sauvagnat, 2016; Boehm et al., 2019; Carvalho et al., 2021). There is also direct evidence on how input shortages (e.g., electricity shortages) dampen firm growth (Allcott et al., 2016). [...] In addition, we find that 2021 had a larger number of hours in port and a higher freight cost compared to 2020, even after we control for mobility changes. This is likely to reflect the accumulated e↵ect of the pandemic through disruptions in trade patterns across the world and disruptions in domestic transportation services, such as shipment by trucks. Our paper contributes to the literature on the impact of local shocks on firms and trade.

• Global Trade Disrupted: Early Impacts of U.S. Tariffs - TD Economics

  ## Global trade is still flowing, but some directions have changed [...] manifesting in the U.S. data: a flight to safety, and a rush to stockpile goods before it’s too late. [...] China’s exports have shifted away from the U.S. and towards other countries this year.

• Growing Threats to Global Trade - International Monetary Fund

  During COVID, short-term delivery delays and shortages due to the disruption of international trade were widely described as a crisis. But much of this was blown out of proportion, and in fact markets proved extremely resilient (Goldberg and Reed 2023a). The US, for instance, imports medical goods and supplies from a diverse group of countries. The one exception is face masks. But in 2020 shipments of face masks from China arrived within months, and this meant that shortages were completely [...] global supply chains: only 2 out of 44 economists disagreed with the statement that reliance on foreign inputs had made American industries vulnerable to disruptions. [...] Finally, the Western world enjoyed a historically rare long period of peace that fostered prosperity. The tight global interconnectedness achieved by the end of the 20th century was arguably a major contributing factor by giving everyone an incentive to behave. War in this hyperglobalized era meant disruption of global supply chains, with potentially dire consequences for the world economy—as we are in the process of finding out.

• How a Global Trade War Hurts the U.S. Stock Market

  The U.S. economy is deeply integrated into the global economy. When global trade slows due to tariffs, overall economic growth tends to suffer. A slowdown in China, the European Union or other key markets can reduce demand for U.S. goods and services. Slower growth abroad means fewer sales opportunities for American companies, which drags down stock prices. ##### 5. Shifting Investor Sentiment [...] The Trump administration recently imposed tariffs on virtually every country in the world, leading to massive stock market declines, and then paused many of those tariffs, leading to a rebound in the markets. The threat of a global tariff trade war, where countries impose taxes on each other’s imports in a tit-for-tat fashion, is sending shockwaves through financial markets. For the U.S. stock market, which thrives on economic stability, predictable trade flows and global growth, the effects of [...] How a Global Trade War Hurts the U.S. Stock Market

• Trade policy uncertainty looms over global markets - UNCTAD

  Policy changes in one country can send shockwaves across the globe, disrupting suppliers, manufacturers and markets. The United States’ recent policy shifts illustrate this. As the world’s largest importer, even modest changes reshape supply chains and alter global trade flows. #### Uncertainty as a strategy Policy uncertainty is rarely accidental. Governments recalibrate trade rules in response to domestic pressures and sometimes use ambiguity to gain leverage in negotiations. [...] MACHINE NAME = WEB 1 English Français Español Français Español UNCTAD16 Subscribe Tariffs # Global Trade Update (September 2025): Trade policy uncertainty looms over global markets Highlight Downloads Trade policy uncertainty has become a major source of global instability. Sudden shifts in tariffs, subsidies or restrictions fuel volatility. [...] Firms with multiple markets can redirect shipments when one closes, cushioning losses. Countries with broader export bases offset downturns in one region with gains elsewhere. Trade agreements provide rules and dispute settlement mechanisms, reducing shocks and encouraging long-term investment.