Trade policy after the headline fades.
The Trade Guys follows Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch as they work through trade policy with procedural patience and dry skepticism. Episodes move from court rulings and tariff mechanics to export controls, sanctions, shipping risk, and the commercial effects of geopolitical pressure.
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The Trade Guys is a policy-heavy CSIS show about the practical force of trade decisions. It lives in the space between headline and implementation. Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch take tariffs, sanctions, export controls, WTO negotiations, bilateral agreements, and geopolitical shocks, then ask what the machinery behind them actually does. The result is conversational, but not loose. Episodes tend to start with a concrete development and then work outward through law, institutions, timing, market incentives, and second-order consequences. A Supreme Court decision on IEPA tariffs becomes a discussion of Customs and Border Protection guidance, lower-court procedure, refund claims, and the gap between political messaging and administrative reality. A steel and aluminum tariff story becomes a debate over affordability, regressive price effects, business adjustment, and the credibility of competing economic arguments. A WTO ministerial in Cameroon becomes a study in low expectations, unfinished reform, fisheries, agriculture, and the collapse of the e-commerce tariff moratorium. The show is often at its best when the topic sounds narrow. Export-control alignment with Kate Corrin opens into questions about technology evaluation, Commerce Department process, and how controls are measured after they are announced. Victor Cha’s appearance on China’s weaponization of trade brings the program into a broader geopolitical frame without abandoning the show’s usual concern for tools, leverage, and institutional response. The tone stays steady even when the subjects are volatile. War in Iran is treated through the Strait of Hormuz, marine insurance, container shipping, security risk, and the problem of routes that cannot easily be avoided. Colombia-Ecuador trade tensions, U.S.-Ecuador arrangements, EU-China relations, U.S.-Taiwan contours, and sanctions relief for Russia, Iran, and Venezuela all receive the same treatment: less drama, more causality. The show also has a dry internal rhythm. One speaker tees up a legal or commercial problem, the other tests the premise, adds caveats, or pushes the implications further. It can be blunt about weak arguments, institutional drift, and the erosion of respect for WTO rules. It rarely sounds theatrical. The Trade Guys suits listeners who want trade policy to be intelligible without being simplified into a campaign line, a market note, or a think-tank press release.
Made for: For listeners who follow tariffs, sanctions, supply chains, WTO process, and economic statecraft, especially policy professionals, business readers, journalists, and globally minded citizens. It also suits non-specialists who want patient explanations of why trade rules affect prices, shipping, diplomacy, and corporate decisions.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is procedural literacy: it connects statutes, court decisions, customs processes, international institutions, and market behavior in one argument. Rather than chasing novelty, it shows how trade policy becomes operational reality.
Trade experts Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch break down the buzz around trade, how it affects policy, and how it impacts your day-to-day. The Trade Guys is a weekly podcast from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch make trade policy legible by connecting legal decisions, tariff mechanics, and geopolitical shocks to their economic consequences.
The Trade Guys turns trade policy from headline noise into a working account of laws, tariffs, negotiations, and economic consequences. Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch move comfortably between Supreme Court decisions and the administrative mechanics that follow, explaining who…
Tariff refunds have paperwork; Scott and Bill make you care who files it.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Security and insurance shape the choices facing ships at the Strait of Hormuz.
At the Strait of Hormuz, the war in Iran poses a blunt question for shipping companies: can they move cargo safely, and will anyone insure the voyage? Scott Miller and Bill Reitsch work through both parts.
A clear briefing on tariff uncertainty, refund mechanics, and the pressure shaping EU-China trade.
The Trade Guys turn the Supreme Court's IEPA decision into a practical briefing on tariff uncertainty. Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch follow the swing from President Trump's proposed 10% global tariff to 15%, then back to 10% in Customs and Border Patrol guidance.
A clear, pointed read on tariff whiplash, price effects, trade data, and the U.S.-Taiwan deal.
The Trade Guys gives tariff uncertainty a clear, useful frame, starting with the back-and-forth over steel and aluminum measures: a Financial Times report pointed to a possible scale-back, the White House pushed back, and U.S.
Odd questions, followed patiently down to the incentives.
Family grief, public questions, and the responsibilities of care.
The Trade Guys interview Rick Woldenberg, CEO of toy companies, about his lawsuit challenging tariffs under IEEPA.
The Trade Guys analyze a new US-UK pharmaceuticals agreement that exempts British drug exports from tariffs in exchange for the UK capping NHS clawbacks at 15%.
Congresswoman Suzan DelBene discusses trade priorities with hosts Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch.
Angela Ellard, who served four years as WTO Deputy Director General, reports from the 2026 WTO Public Forum in Geneva, which drew 4,000 registrants and about 130 panels.
The Trade Guys interview Kate Koren about export control alignment, new Section 232 tariffs, and Trump's budget request.
The Trade Guys mark April 2, 2026, one year after President Trump's Liberation Day tariffs, which raised import costs without producing the predicted recession.
The Trade Guys episode covers the EU-Australia agreement, which ended eight years of talks, and Scott Miller sees little to object to in it apart from a 10-year phase-out of Australia's "Prosecco" name.
The Trade Guys discuss the aftermath of the Supreme Court's ruling on IEPA tariffs, U.S.-Cuba relations, and updates on USMCA.
Victor Cha discusses his new book on how China uses trade as a weapon and how countries can resist through collective resilience.
Hormuz is the hinge.
Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch of CSIS analyze the first week following the Supreme Court's IEPA ruling, during which President Trump shifted to Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act at a 10% tariff rate with signals toward 15%.
Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch break down why steel and aluminum tariffs are raising prices, especially after downstream products like beer cans and deodorant cans were added.
The Trade Guys on CSIS break down the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling that IEEPA “does not permit tariffs,” and Bill Reinsch says the key fight is over reasoning, not just outcome.
The Trade Guys discuss the USMCA review, a potential thaw in US-China trade relations, and upcoming tariff policy debates in Congress.
The Trade Guys interview Rick Woldenberg, CEO of toy companies, about his lawsuit challenging tariffs under IEEPA.
The Trade Guys discuss contentious tariffs on Brazil and India and the impact of U.S.
Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch interview Jeannette Chu about export controls and their impact on multinational companies.