Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney didn’t mince words at Davos this week. Speaking to global leaders, he declared that the international order is undergoing something more fundamental than a policy shift:
“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. The old order is not coming back.”
That rupture is now visible in trade deals being signed without American participation.
Beijing’s Charm Offensive
While Washington focuses on tariffs and territorial ambitions in Greenland, China is moving fast. On China Decode, Financial Times correspondent James Kynge and host Alice Han break down Beijing’s strategy:
Canada is cutting EV tariffs from 100% in exchange for Chinese market access. European regulators are testing China’s homegrown C919 passenger jet. And Beijing is dangling trade incentives across the European Union.
The timing isn’t coincidental. As Alice Han notes: “Trump’s moves have probably pushed a lot of these countries—the Europeans, the Canadians, now maybe even the Brits—to adopt a softer trade policy towards China.”
The Greenland Gambit Backfires
President Trump’s latest move—a 10% levy on eight EU countries opposed to his plans for Greenland—is accelerating the realignment:
On Marketplace, Kai Risdahl connects the dots between Trump’s Greenland obsession and the broader trade picture:
“Countries are moving on without the United States. We’re not a reliable partner anymore.”
The EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc finally signed a free trade agreement years in the making. Canada struck a deal with China. The UK is negotiating with India. None of these agreements include the United States.
The Dollar Warning
The consequences extend beyond trade. If America’s allies diversify away from U.S. economic leadership, the dollar’s dominance could eventually follow:
“If you accelerate the rest of the world’s search for an alternative, they’re going to find one. And at that point, once the dollar ceases to be the dominant sole global trading and reserve currency, then a lot of things Americans have taken for granted start to go away.”
What Comes Next
The question now isn’t whether the old order is changing—it’s whether America will have a seat at the table when the new one takes shape.
For American businesses hoping to grow through exports, the picture is concerning. As one analyst on Marketplace put it: “We’re a mature, slow-growth economy. If companies here want to grow fast, they have to export. And what Trump is doing is effectively cutting them off from that.”
The world isn’t waiting around to find out if U.S. trade policy will stabilize. It’s already moving on.
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