The Trade Strategist

The Exam My Son Hasn’t Taken Yet

AI is hollowing out the bottom of the career ladder, and bending the Heckman curve into a U

Jun 14 • Jun Du

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Trade Defence Is a Shield, Not a Growth Model

Brussels escalates, London engages. Both moves are coherent. Only one rests on a diagnosis that fits the structure of the problem.

Jun 4 • Jun Du

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May 2026

Industrial Strategy for the Bigger Half

Industrial policy for a services-heavy economy: the missing parallel

May 10 • Jun Du

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April 2026

The Productive Foundations of a Middle Power

What a US-UK rift would really mean for the UK economy

Apr 26 • Jun Du

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Making Devolution Deliver: Who Coordinates the Coordinators?

Last week, after I published my piece on Britain’s competitiveness map, a senior figure at the Department for Business and Trade asked me a question I…

Apr 5 • Jun Du

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March 2026

Britain Needs a New Map of Competitiveness

At this week’s BCC trade conference, one question kept resurfacing: how should a middle power think about competitiveness in a world of friction…

Mar 29 • Jun Du

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Is Trump a Secret Agent for BYD?

Hormuz crisis. Chinese EVs. Middle-power resilience.

Mar 22 • Jun Du

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The Quiet Car That Lost Its Way

Honda’s first loss in 68 years, and the danger of letting policy shape strategy

Mar 14 • Jun Du

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A Hub with No Spokes: Why Britain’s Productivity Puzzle Starts at the Bottom, Not the Top

Friedrich Merz came home from China last week and told Germans they need to work harder.

Mar 2 • Jun Du

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February 2026

The visit Britain reported — and the one China saw

When Keir Starmer returned from Beijing calling for a “sophisticated relationship” with China, some critics heard evasion.

Feb 7 • Jun Du

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January 2026

Greenland tariffs and the economics of decline

Why yesterday's threats and today's reversal reveal more than the original policy

Jan 22 • Jun Du

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Introducing The Trade Strategist

After seven months of writing as “Jun’s Substack,” I’m rebranding to better reflect what this publication offers: strategic analysis of trade policy…

Jan 21 • Jun Du

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