In a year marked by shifting alliances, bold domestic reforms, and the ever-present shadow of global uncertainty, international trade in 2025 took on new shapes for nations both large and small. From the robust export surge of Georgia to Argentina’s fraught dance with export taxes and California’s realignment of trade partners, the world’s economic map is being redrawn in real time. The stories behind the numbers reveal how trade policies, government priorities, and global market forces are shaping the destinies of economies across continents.
Georgia, nestled at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, achieved a milestone in 2025 that few could have predicted a decade ago. According to The Caspian Post and Georgia Today, the country’s exports grew by an impressive 11.2% year-on-year, reaching a record-breaking USD 7.3 billion. Total foreign trade turnover soared to USD 25.8 billion—an all-time high for the nation. December alone saw exports jump by 22.5% over the previous year, totaling USD 673.2 million, while imports rose by 8.5% to USD 1.84 billion. The month’s trade turnover hit USD 2.52 billion, up 12% year-on-year.
Vakhtang Tsintsadze, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, attributed this success to a deliberate government strategy. "Supporting domestic production remains a main government priority," Tsintsadze stated, highlighting targeted state support programs for local producers and the use of free trade agreements to expand Georgia’s export reach. The government’s approach aims to meet local demand while boosting the global competitiveness of Georgian products—an effort that appears to be paying dividends.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, Argentina’s economic story in 2025 has been no less dramatic. President Javier Milei’s administration, fresh off a midterm victory in October, has pressed forward with a transformative economic agenda. Central to this agenda is the sensitive issue of export taxes—known locally as retenciones—which have long been a source of contention and economic distortion.
On December 9, the Milei government lowered the export tax on soybeans from 26% to 24%, a move that followed earlier reductions and eliminations of duties on certain agricultural products and several import categories. In September, Argentina temporarily suspended duties on grain exports to build up much-needed foreign currency reserves, and in October, it suspended export duties on aluminum and steel in response to new U.S. tariffs on those products.
Despite these reforms, Argentina still relies heavily on taxes from international trade: export taxes contribute about 6% and import duties 4% to federal government revenue. This reliance is a legacy of past fiscal crises and a reflection of the country’s ongoing budgetary challenges. As The Atlantic Council points out, Argentina’s duties on agricultural exports—eliminated in the 1990s but reintroduced after the 2001 debt crisis—have proven politically and economically difficult to unwind.
Yet there has been progress. Since taking office in December 2023, the Milei administration has achieved a consolidated fiscal surplus for the first time in nearly two decades. This was accomplished through politically costly spending cuts, subsidy eliminations, and the removal of other distorting taxes, such as the PAIS tax on foreign currency purchases. The International Monetary Fund projects that Argentina will essentially break even fiscally in 2026, but warns there is little surplus left after accounting for debt repayments.
Economists and policymakers alike recognize that Argentina’s high export tariffs have stifled production and overseas sales, depriving the economy of foreign currency and limiting growth. While recent steps are seen as positive, experts argue that further, gradual reductions in export and import duties are needed. The challenge, of course, is how to replace the lost revenue without jeopardizing fiscal stability. Suggestions include broadening the tax base, improving collection efficiency, and bringing more of the informal economy into the fold.
Argentina’s situation is complicated by its need for dollar reserves to meet external obligations. The country operates on a tight currency band, and exporters are required to repatriate and sell foreign earnings to the central bank at the official rate—a process undermined by high export duties that deter overseas sales. As the 2027 general election looms, the Milei administration faces a delicate balancing act: maintain fiscal discipline, stimulate export-driven growth, and avoid reigniting the capital flight that has plagued previous governments.
Across the Pacific, the United States—California in particular—has also experienced significant shifts in its trade landscape. In 2025, U.S. trade policy saw the imposition of higher tariffs on most trading partners, prompting retaliation and uncertainty for businesses and consumers alike. With ten months of data in the books, California’s merchandise trade totaled USD 559 billion, about USD 650 million less than the same period in 2024. Exports nudged upward from USD 153 billion to USD 157 billion, while imports slipped slightly from USD 407 billion to USD 402 billion.
Perhaps the most striking development has been the realignment of California’s trade partnerships. Mexico overtook China as the state’s top trade partner, a shift accelerated by a 35% plunge in imports and a 31% drop in exports with China. From January to October, imports from China fell from USD 102 billion to USD 66 billion, and exports from USD 12.4 billion to USD 8.6 billion. Filling some of this gap, Taiwan emerged as California’s third-largest trading partner, with imports of computer equipment, semiconductors, and electronics soaring from USD 9.6 billion in 2020 to USD 38.4 billion in 2025. Canada also climbed the ranks, becoming the seventh-largest partner behind South Korea.
California’s manufacturing exports—which made up 87% of all state exports in 2024—increased by 2.5% in the first ten months of 2025. Agricultural, livestock, forestry, and related exports, representing 8% of the total, grew by 4.6%. However, the gains were not universal. The state’s beverage industry, including breweries and wineries, suffered a steep decline: beverage exports dropped over 32%, from more than USD 1.3 billion to USD 880 million, driven in part by a Canadian boycott that slashed exports to Canada from nearly a third of the yearly total to just 16% in 2025.
Agricultural exports painted a more nuanced picture. While exports to Canada and China fell by USD 1 billion, this was offset by a USD 1.2 billion increase in exports to several European countries, as well as India, Vietnam, and Japan. Fruits and tree nuts remained the state’s most valuable agricultural exports, accounting for USD 9.8 billion, or 80% of the total in 2025.
As the year draws to a close, it’s clear that global trade is anything but static. Policymakers from Tbilisi to Buenos Aires to Sacramento are wrestling with the complex interplay of domestic priorities, international pressures, and the ever-evolving realities of the world market. For Georgia, 2025 was a year of record-breaking growth and new confidence on the world stage. For Argentina, the path forward is fraught with fiscal and political challenges, but recent reforms hint at a possible turnaround. And for California, the state’s trade story is one of adaptation—finding new partners and markets in a rapidly changing world.
These stories, while unique, are threads in the broader tapestry of global commerce—a reminder that the only constant in trade, as in life, is change itself.
