Circle
Impact of Global Trade Relations on International Development
Circle: Impact of Global Trade Relations on International Development
November 4, 2025
Berlin
Recent changes in U.S. tariffs policy have triggered new uncertainties and shifts in global trade relations. These changes directly impact the future and strategic course of international development cooperation. Pinelopi K. Goldberg, former Chief Economist of the World Bank and currently teaching at Yale University, has spent her research and professional career exploring the intersections between trade and international development.
The final report of our Commission, “A Changing World – Germany and the Global South,” highlights that development policy can be a valuable tool in times of geopolitical conflict. The recommendations suggest that Germany, as one of the world’s largest export and trading nations, uses its development policy as a strategic instrument in times of geopolitical tension to create a sustainable future.
Based on Goldberg’s latest analyses on the impact of global trade on international development, we further discussed the recommendations of the Commission together with partners from politics, academia, business and civil society. Together, we examined how international development policy must be realigned to address these current changes.

Contact Persons
Gregor Darmer, g.darmer@globalperspectives.org
Supported by
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB)
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