Chaotic times in global trade: Looking from a gendered lens

Since April 2025, the world is seeing a massive turmoil in the arena of international trade, triggered by the launch of a set of arbitrary tariffs imposed by the world’s richest country on imports from almost 75 countries, even small island states.

At the same time, while the World Trade Organisation has been no friend of development, the certainty of a multilateral rules-based trading system is in jeopardy. Countries are rushing to sign bilateral trade agreements and competing against friends and foes in the process. Again, these trends adversely affect all Member countries, but developing countries even more so.

Marginalized groups are differentially impacted even from general trade rules. But this extreme state of chaos and competition hurts them even more. This is especially true for women and other constituencies that face gender-based discrimination in their economic and social interactions every day. The way they interact with and are impacted by the trading system is bound to undergo serious shifts in the current scenario.

On 28 May 2025, the Gender and Trade Coalition, along with co-convenors WIDE+, Regions Refocus, Third World Network, FEMNET, AWID, and IT for Change, organized a webinar entitled ‘Chaotic times in global trade: Looking from a gendered lens.’ In the webinar, the speakers analyzed and discussed the impacts of the current global trading space from a gendered lens, with a particular emphasis on the specific impacts faced by marginalized constituencies.

Watch the webinar recording here.