Global trade is going to one of the big policy themes of 2017.
Governments and investors around the world are waiting to see how US president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his strong campaign rhetoric which threatened new tariffs and trade barriers in order to protect American jobs and industry.
For example, Trump has suggested putting a huge 45% tariff on US imports from China, and his incoming administration is reportedly considering a 10% tax on all imports. This could potentially ignite policy responses from countries whose goods become less attractive to Americans, leading to a global trade war.
To help people understand the flows of global trade, former derivatives trader Max Galka put together an interactive map of the world with moving dots, each representing a billion US dollars in exports or imports. The different colours represent different sectors such as food, minerals and chemicals, clothing, wood, and so on.
The full interactive map is here, and below is a short video version. It clearly highlights the importance of China, the US, and Germany in global trade activity.The map represents 2015 data and we first spotted it over at Foreign Policy.
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