Graph and download economic data for Economic Policy Uncertainty Index: Categorical Index: Trade policy (EPUTRADE) from Jan 1985 to Jul 2025 about uncertainty, trade, World, and indexes.

The Global Economic Policy Uncertainty (GEPU) index was at its highest in May 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought global economic uncertainty. The index was also **** after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Moreover, the index rose sharply in November 2024 after Donald Trump was re-elected as President of the United States. Trump promised to impose trade tariffs against a range of countries, and did so against Canada, Mexico, and China in February 2024. The GEPU index is constructed by measuring how often the leading newspapers mention economic policy uncertainty in their articles.

The global fuel energy price index stood at 165.09 index points in July 2025, up from 100 in the base year 2016. Figures decreased that month due to a fall in natural gas prices. The fuel energy index includes prices for crude oil, natural gas, coal, and propane. Supply constraints across multiple commodities The global natural gas price index surged nearly 11-fold, and the global coal price index rose almost seven-fold from summer 2020 to summer 2022. This notable escalation was largely attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war, exerting increased pressure on the global supply chain. Tariffs bring economic uncertainty With the global economy having adjusted to the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, new uncertainty has emerged due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. If these tariffs are fully implemented, global trade could be significantly disrupted, mainly the bilateral trade between the world’s two largest economies. In 2025, import tariffs between China and the United States exceeded 130 percent on both sides, while their tariffs on imports from the rest of the world were around 10 percent. U.S. tariffs on Chinese imported goods reached a high of 134.7 percent in April of that year, while China imposed a 147.6 percent tariff on U.S. goods. Early estimates indicate that the impact of Trump’s proposed tariffs on the U.S. economy could amount to 0.4 percent of GDP, mainly driven by the reduced trade with Mexico, Canada and China.