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How 2025’s US Tariff Shocks Can Give Way to Constructive Reforms in 2026

The Trump administration’s 2025 trade strategy oscillated between aggressive, unpredictable tariff threats and a quieter push for long‑standing trade objectives. While high tariffs and threats destabilized markets, the administration began issuing exemptions and rolled back many threats, stabilizing tariff levels by early 2026. Simultaneously, the United States advanced a WTO reform agenda emphasizing plurilateral deals, transparency, and limited security exceptions, and secured bilateral agreements with India, Guatemala and El Salvador that cut duties and address non‑tariff barriers. These moves set the stage for a more constructive, rules‑based trade approach in 2026.