Four Corners turns its lens on the fallout of America’s tariff war in Trading in Chaos, airing Monday, June 30, 2025, at 8:30 PM AEST on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Reporter Steve Cannane crosses the US to unpack the aftershocks of Donald Trump’s trade policies—sold as protection for American workers, now seen by many as a direct hit to the people they were supposed to help.
From soybean farmers in North Carolina to importers in Texas and union workers in Pennsylvania, Cannane’s report surfaces a pattern: rising costs, stalled operations, and businesses struggling to navigate a system reshaped by unpredictability. With input from economic analysts and policy experts, the episode traces how campaign-era rhetoric hardened into policy—and how that policy is now biting back.
The report lands just one week before a 90-day hold on retaliatory tariffs is set to expire. That timing isn’t accidental. For those monitoring the global trade outlook, the next moves could either escalate existing tensions or open the door for rollback negotiations. Either way, the stakes are climbing.
Trading in Chaos doesn’t indulge in hypotheticals. It puts hard numbers and firsthand accounts at the centre. This is policy seen from the ground—not the press conference.
Mary Fallon produces, building the episode around a simple but urgent question: who actually wins when trade policy becomes a political weapon?
Four Corners airs Mondays at 8:30 PM AEST on ABC TV and streams on ABC iview.
