In Episode 82 of Trade Splaining, Ardian Mollabeqiri and Robert Skidmore close out the year with an end-of-year global trade reality check.

This episode covers:

• Why Europe’s energy transition is starting to hit household wallets

• China’s overcapacity problem — from electric vehicles to tomato paste

• Why tariffs are proving inflationary (again) and failing to cut trade deficits

• How supply chains keep finding workarounds, no matter the policy

• Rising debt and capital outflows facing developing economies

• What “fragmentation” looks like in practice — and whether there’s a third way

No guest this time — just a wide-ranging news roundup, listener feedback, and a reminder that when pizza orders start shrinking, something bigger is going on.

🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

📩 Get in touch: tradesplaining@gmail.com 🐦 Follow us on Twitter/X & BlueSky | 📸 Instagram | 💼 LinkedIn

Listen responsibly.

Trade Splaining is back! After a summer break (and one new baby later), Ardi and Rob return to make sense of what’s changed — and what hasn’t — in global trade, business, and expat life. From the latest round of tariffs and China’s “pivot” away from developing-country status at the WTO, to why AI might be the next big trade disruptor, we break down the stories shaping the global economy in 2025.

We’re also joined by Neil Shearing, Chief Economist at Capital Economics and author of The Fractured Age, to unpack how geopolitical rivalries are reshaping globalization — or maybe just rearranging it.

In This Episode:

• 🎵 Why global trade sounds like a Kelly Clarkson song

• 🇨🇳 China’s slowdown vs. export boom — and what Michael Pettis got right

• 💸 Why tariffs haven’t been inflationary (yet)

• 🧠 How AI is quietly rewriting the rules of services trade

• 🌍 Neil Shearing on the U.S.–China split, Europe’s role, and who wins in a fractured world

• 🕰️ Plus: Swiss MAGA farmers, salmon sperm facials as recession indicators, and the new rock-solid watch from Tissot

Keywords: global trade podcast, Trade Splaining, Neil Shearing, The Fractured Age, deglobalization, US-China trade war, WTO 2025, AI and trade, services trade, tariffs inflation, global economy podcast

In Episode 80 of Trade Splaining, we’re pulling back the curtain on everything from secret sausage wars to how Apple helped build modern China. Along the way, we break down the increasingly blurry line between trade policy and geopolitics, why AI is now after your desk job, and how sober tailgates and millennial nostalgia are the new macro indicators.

Special Guest: Patrick McGee, FT journalist and author of Apple in China, joins us to explain:

• Why Apple didn’t just outsource manufacturing to China—it helped build it

• How a $55B investment strategy turned into a Marshall Plan for advanced manufacturing

• Why decoupling is harder than we think, and what it means for the future of globalization

Also in this episode:

• Is trade policy dead—or just dressed up as national security?

• The AI job shock: not just repetitive tasks, but white-collar jobs too

• A big new EU–Switzerland trade deal (and an even bigger name: “The Bilaterals”)

• Listener feedback, airline mysteries, stolen sausage secrets, and the return of All-American Rejects

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows.