Want to curl up with some good trade stories? We’ve got two recommendations. First is the Monk of Mohka, the miraculous true story of a young Yemeni-American man who grew up in one of San Francisco’s poorest neighborhoods and overcame seemingly impossible obstacles to export coffee from Yemen in the midst of a raging civil war. Second is the Spring 2019 edition of Lapham’s Quarterly dedicated to the topic of trade. The magazine takes you through time on the journey of global trade through the eyes of those who trade.

At least 80 percent of fentanyl in the United States was shipped by mail from China – yes, the U.S. Postal Service. The Centers for Disease Control says fentanyl has caused a “third wave” of drug-related overdose deaths in the United States. In this new article, TradeVistas explores whether U.S.-China trade talks will help address this deadly issue. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s unprecedented use of Section 232 to impose tariffs in the name of national security is taking more twists and turns with the launch this week of its fifth such investigation. We deliver what you need to know about Section 232 of U.S. trade law and the national security exception.

Newer forms of computing brains are coming online and there’s an entire class of seemingly invisible global transactions burgeoning. Governments are actively writing standards, regulations, and issuing strategic directives around new digital technologies. Their visions will inform eventual global disciplines around digital trade. All of us will need to be informed about what these technologies are and how they will shape the future of trade. We modestly begin with two offerings on artificial intelligence (AI) and an overview of industry concerns about the proliferation of barriers to digital trade.

The current administration’s use of Section 232 to impose trade-restrictive measures on imports of steel and aluminum has become the source of increasing domestic discontent among steel-using industries, farmers who are the target of retaliatory tariffs, and Members of Congress who are reconsidering handing delegated powers over trade to the President. It has also put WTO dispute settlement to an unwelcome test. This week, we look at the historical uses of Section 232 and also tap into the growing world of online microwork and freelancing.

In a new survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF), global leaders cite geo-economic tensions as the top risk for 2019. These leaders from government, business, and civil society are most concerned about economic confrontations among the world’s major powers and erosion of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and agreements. We continue our ongoing series on competition policy and subsidies with a look at ongoing negotiations at the WTO to reduce subsidies that contribute to overfishing.