The Trade Ledger

The Global Bazaar

Who sells to whom, at what price, through which chokepoint, and under what tariff. Live World Bank flows joined with WTO tariff walls, Baltic shipping indices, FTA membership, and the 2018-2025 trade-war timeline.

WTO applied tariffs, US-China tariff timeline, BDI/WCI freight indices, RCEP/USMCA/CPTPP/EU/AfCFTA membership, supply-chain concentration (USGS + SEMI) — snapshot dated 2025-09-15 (1 year ago). Curated data may lag the live series. View data sources.
Updated livesource: Harvard Atlas
Updated 1.0 yr agosource: Curated
curated
Top exporter
World Bank NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS
Median openness
trade / GDP among top-15
Avg applied tariff
8.2%
WTO simple mean · 2024
US tariff on China
51.1%
post-Geneva deal (May 2025)
Live: World Bank trade series (NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS, NE.IMP.GNFS.ZS, NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS, BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS, TM.TAX.MRCH.SM.AR.ZS). Curated: WTO Applied Tariffs 2024, PIIE US-China tariff timeline, Baltic + Drewry shipping indices, FTA membership matrix, USGS + SEMI supply-chain concentration.
Chapter 1

The Global Bazaar

The ticker names the ranks — who sells the most, relative to their own economy. Small trading hubs (Singapore, Netherlands, Vietnam) dominate the share leaderboard even though Chinese absolute flows dwarf everyone.

Chapter 2

The Balance

Current-account balance as % of GDP — who is a net creditor to the world, who is a net debtor. Persistent surpluses (Germany, China) and deficits (US, UK) reveal structural asymmetries in savings vs consumption.

Chapter 3

The Openness Race

Trade openness is the share of GDP moved across borders. Peaked globally in 2008; some countries have kept climbing (Vietnam, Mexico) while others have de-globalised (US, UK).

Chapter 4

The Tariff Wall

How high the border walls really are, and who is raising them fastest. WTO applied rates for 15 economies at the top, US-China bilateral escalation 2018-2025 below.

Chapter 5

The Shipping Lanes

Freight is the plumbing. Baltic Dry Index and Drewry WCI show how much it costs to move a bulk carrier or a 40-ft container. Covid, Ever Given, Red Sea — every shock leaves a spike.

Chapter 6

Trade Agreements

Membership matrix for the five biggest FTAs. RCEP is Asia-Pacific + China; CPTPP is Asia-Pacific minus China + UK; USMCA is North America; the EU is the deepest bloc; AfCFTA is the newcomer.

Live trade data via World Bank API proxy. Curated snapshots refreshed 2025-09-15. Historical bilateral flows and tariff timelines compiled from WTO World Tariff Profiles, PIIE US-China trade war chronology, USGS Minerals Yearbook, SEMI, UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport.