At the start of February, President Trump launched a trade war.

The president announced sweeping tariffs on goods imported from China, Canada, and Mexico. Although he temporarily backed away from the highest penalties, Trump clearly indicated that tariffs will be central to his policy agenda. This follows the Biden administration’s embrace of steep tariffs on electric vehicle imports from China, and sanctions against Russia aimed at stifling its energy sector. 

These economic chokepoints are part of a broader shift of the global economy. Countries are weaponizing economic power through sanctions, tariffs, and export controls — reflecting a shift away from decades of global economic integration.

So how did we get here? What does this new age of economic warfare mean for global stability and the global economy? And how might these tools reshape everything from energy markets to global banking systems in the years ahead?

This week, Jason Bordoff talks to Eddie Fishman about his upcoming book "Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare," which comes out on February 25th. The book traces the evolution of economic warfare from the “War on Terror” to today's great power competition.

Eddie is a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He also serves as an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Erin Hardick, Mary Catherine O’Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive producer.