Beyond the Drama: Rethinking the Global Conversation on Trade

Beyond the Drama: Rethinking the Global Conversation on Trade

The mainstream U.S. media’s coverage of the so-called “trade war” has been anything but illuminating. The term itself is a contradiction in spirit. Trade, at its core, is about mutual benefit and peaceful cooperation—the very opposite of war. Yet, we are fed a daily stream of headlines that turn global economic policy into reality TV: Trump strikes! Trump retreats! Trump roars! Trump whimpers! This is not trade analysis. This is spectacle.

And therein lies the problem. The media's obsession with titillation over understanding has left the public ill-informed on one of the most consequential areas of modern geopolitics. Trade is not a game of personality. It is a delicate, dynamic mechanism that shapes the well-being of billions.

What’s missing from the coverage is any meaningful engagement with the actual impacts of this so-called war. Yes, we hear about price hikes at Walmart. Yes, there’s some mention of factory slowdowns in China. But what about the rest of the world? What about the dozens of poorer nations whose economic futures are caught in the crossfire? These are not footnotes—they are frontline casualties.

The Global South, in particular, is often sidelined in the trade discourse. Smaller economies that rely on exporting textiles, electronics components, or raw materials are among the hardest hit by the uncertainty and instability brought on by the weaponization of tariffs. These countries don’t have the luxury of strategic posturing—they survive by integrating into global supply chains that depend on stability and predictability.

We must move beyond the theater of trade and start having deeper, more systemic conversations. Fortunately, some books are pointing the way forward. Two books stand out in this regard:

• Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy offers a comprehensive framework to restructure global trade so it prioritizes fairness, sustainability, and global equity over brute profit and power plays. It challenges the status quo of top-down globalization and makes the case for a new model that includes the voices and interests of the Global South.

• Trump’s Trade War provides a detailed chronicle of the policies, rhetoric, and consequences of Trump-era trade strategies. It’s a sobering reminder that tariffs are not abstract tools—they are blunt instruments that can fracture economies and deepen inequalities when wielded recklessly.

These books are not just antidotes to media fluff. They are essential readings for anyone who wants to understand trade beyond headlines and hashtags.

In an age where every policy decision has global ripple effects, we need less drama and more depth. We need fewer Trumpisms and more trade literacy. We need journalism that sees beyond U.S. consumer prices and Chinese GDP numbers—and acknowledges the interconnected, vulnerable fabric of the global economy.

Let’s shift the focus from titillation to transformation. The stakes are too high to treat trade like a game.

1/
The way U.S. media covers the so-called “trade war” is a disservice.
Trade is supposed to prevent war—not be a form of it.
But you'd think it was a reality TV show.
Trump is in. Trump is out. Trump is lion. Trump is chicken. 🐔🦁
That’s not trade policy. That’s drama.
🧵

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 12, 2025

10/
Let’s stop playing “trade war” and start rethinking trade.
The world is too interconnected for this kind of media shallowness.
📚
👉 https://t.co/8aGH1Vh2WL
👉 https://t.co/jujJ9md1G4#TradeJustice #GlobalEconomy #RethinkingTrade #TrumpTradeWar #EconTwitter

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 12, 2025

1/
What if one speech collapsed a country—and gave birth to a new world?
Welcome to Empty Country, a novel of mass migration, collapse, and rebirth. 🧵@TrueSlazac

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 12, 2025

@cafreiman pic.twitter.com/Hnc9jB7sQC

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 12, 2025

1/ 🛫 BREAKING: On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight 171—a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner (VT‑ANB)—departed Ahmedabad, India, bound for London Gatwick. Less than a minute after takeoff, it veered off course and crashed into a building near the airport.

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 12, 2025

History Of Tibet Nepal Trade

The history of Tibet-Nepal trade stretches back more than two millennia, forming one of the most ancient and vital trans-Himalayan trade routes in Asia. This corridor was never just about goods—it was a lifeline of commerce, culture, religion, diplomacy, and mutual interdependence. Here’s a detailed chronological account of the Tibet-Nepal trade history, showing how integral this trade route has been to both civilizations.

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1. Prehistoric and Early Trade (before 1st century CE)

• Archaeological evidence suggests barter-style trade between Himalayan tribes and Tibetan plateau communities long before recorded history.

• Nepal’s fertile mid-hill valleys and Tibet’s pastoral and mineral-rich lands led to natural economic complementarity—Tibet lacked salt and grains; Nepal lacked wool and livestock.

• The salt-for-grain trade was among the earliest economic exchanges.

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2. Lichhavi Period (c. 400–750 CE)

• During the reign of the Lichhavi kings in Nepal, Kathmandu Valley emerged as a center of trade and culture.

• Changu Narayan inscriptions (5th century CE) record trade relations with Tibet.

• Nepalese artisans and traders moved to Tibet with Buddhist monks—commerce often traveled with religion.

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3. Early Buddhist Exchange (7th–9th century CE)

• The legendary Nepalese Princess Bhrikuti married Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo (early 7th century), forging a strong alliance between Nepal and Tibet.

• She is said to have brought Buddhist scriptures, artisans, and cultural influence from Nepal to Tibet.

• Nepalese craftsmen built temples in Lhasa, like the Jokhang and Ramoche temples, marking cultural-commercial integration.

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4. Malla Period (12th–18th century CE): Golden Age of Trade

• Under the Malla kings, Kathmandu Valley became a thriving trade hub.

• Trans-Himalayan trade routes—especially the Kuti Pass (Nyalam) and Kerung Pass (Gyirong)—were major conduits.

• Nepal exported: rice, grains, ghee, metal crafts, textiles
  Tibet exported: salt, wool, gold, musk, yak products

• Newar merchants formed trade guilds that operated in Lhasa and other Tibetan towns for generations.

• Coins minted in Nepal were accepted across Tibet and often preferred due to purity.

• Nepalese caravans, often 100+ yaks strong, would make annual journeys to Lhasa—known as “Tibeti Bheti” (Tibetan visitation).

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5. Gorkha Conquest and Treaty of 1792

• In the late 18th century, Prithvi Narayan Shah’s Gorkha expansion led to conflicts with Tibet.

• After the Nepal-Tibet war, the Sino-Nepal Treaty of 1792 was signed (with Qing China as Tibet’s protector).

• The treaty allowed Nepal to send quinquennial missions (every five years) to Lhasa with both diplomatic and trade purposes.

• These missions were richly laden with gifts and goods and symbolized Nepal’s continued trade rights.

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6. British Colonial Era (19th – early 20th century)

• British interest in Tibet and Central Asia made Nepal strategically significant.

• The British tried to use Nepal as a route to Tibet, but Nepal tightly controlled trade access to preserve its privileged position.

• Nepalese traders had quasi-monopoly status over Himalayan trade for much of this period.

• In Lhasa, Newar traders (Lhasa Newars) established permanent settlements, some of which lasted until the mid-20th century.

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7. Modern Disruptions (1950s–1960s)

• The Chinese annexation of Tibet in 1950 dramatically changed the Himalayan trade dynamics.

• The 1956 closure of the border and nationalization of Tibetan trade curtailed centuries-old routes.

• Nepalese merchants in Tibet were expelled or forced to leave.

• Trade via traditional passes like Kuti and Kerung dwindled to a trickle.

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8. Revival and Modern Era (1980s–present)

• With China’s reform era and Nepal-China bilateral relations improving, trade routes were slowly reopened.

• The Kerung-Rasuwa route became the key modern link between Tibet (now part of China) and Nepal.

• Lhasa-Kathmandu trade has resumed, though under tighter regulation.

• China has invested in infrastructure to turn this route into a modern trade corridor, potentially connecting with One Belt One Road (BRI).

• In 2016, Kerung was designated an international customs point, replacing the damaged Kodari route (after the 2015 Nepal earthquake).

• Talks continue on expanding rail and road links from Tibet into Nepal, potentially reaching Lumbini and India—reviving old pathways with new technologies.

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Significance to Tibet and Nepal

• Tibet relied heavily on Nepal for foodstuffs, skilled artisans, religious artifacts, and as a cultural partner.

• Nepal gained not just economic benefits but also spiritual prestige, acting as a cultural intermediary between India and Tibet.

• Trade was also an instrument of diplomacy, fostering centuries of peace and cultural symbiosis.

• The Lhasa Newars were the human face of this trade—they spoke multiple languages, practiced Buddhism and Hinduism, and represented the unique fusion of Himalayan civilizations.

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Conclusion

The Tibet-Nepal trade route is one of Asia’s oldest trans-Himalayan arteries, shaping not just commerce but culture, diplomacy, and identity. Though interrupted in the 20th century, it is poised for a revival in the 21st—especially with renewed Chinese interest and Nepal’s strategic location as a bridge between South and Central Asia. The trade route was—and still can be—integral to both Tibet and Nepal, economically, culturally, and historically.

2: Tariff

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12: Trade War

9: Trade, Tariff, Trump

1: Tariff And Trade

राजेन्द्र महतो ले भनेको विविधता तिब्बत को हकमा पनि लागु हुन्छ

चीनको आतंरिक मामिला चीनको आतंरिक मामिला होला। तर कर्णाली को गरीबी त चीन को आतंरिक मामिला होइन। ५०० वर्ष अगाडि समृद्ध कर्णाली। अहिले त कल्पना गर्न पनि गारहो। अहिले पाल्पा त्यति समृद्ध छैन जति समृद्ध ५०० वर्ष अगाडि कर्णाली थियो। गरीव कसरी भयो? चीनले बोर्डर बंद गरदिएर। नेपाल भारत बोर्डर सील गरिदिने हो भने (बामदेव ले चाहेको कुरा) मधेसको साँस बंद हुन्छ। कर्णाली को साँस बंद भएको छ। 

नेपाल भारत बोर्डर जस्तै हिमाल तिब्बत बोर्डर पनि साबिक झैँ खुला हुनुपर्छ। 

राजेन्द्र महतो ले भनेको विविधता

The Straw Man of Tibet-Xinjiang Equivalence: A Response the experience of ordinary Tibetans, who are routinely deprived of their freedom of expression, movement, religion and assembly. .......... Freedom House has ranked Tibet as one of the least free places in its 2021 “Freedom in the World” report, assigning it a combined score of 1 out of a possible 100 for civil liberties and human rights –– by comparison, Syria scored 1/100 and North Korea scored 3/100 ......... Chen Quanguo, the architect of the Uyghur internment camps, was deploying against the Uyghurs the tools of tyranny he had sharpened in Tibet ......... Tibet served as a laboratory of repression for Chen’s dystopian vision ........ In the voluminous literature on the strategy of conflict, coercion is said to operate when the threat of retaliation plays a role in getting someone to do something against their will. The direct use of brute force is not necessary for coercion to obtain; the threat of punishment often lurks in the shadows without ever appearing onstage. ...........

in the highly repressive climate of Tibet, the line between choice and coercion is extremely blurry

..... Photos of the Dalai Lama have long been banned in monasteries and homes, but now Chinese authorities are seeking to expunge him altogether from Tibetan Buddhism, which goes far beyond merely “insulting the Dalai Lama.” (To understand what Tibetan Buddhism without the Dalai Lama might actually mean, imagine the Catholic Church without the Pope.) ........... Whereas once the monastery used to be a liminal space relatively impervious to the state, now it is a panopticon filled with surveillance cameras watching the monastics at all times. Instead of spending their day studying the scriptures, monks and nuns are forced to attend political indoctrination programs and immerse themselves in Xi Jinping thought, which can hardly be called a “popular adaptation” of what the Buddha taught. .......... Even more pernicious than Beijing’s attack on Buddhism is its assault on the Tibetan language, a campaign that bears all the hallmarks of a multigenerational project to render a language dead and thus eliminate a people’s identity. ........... What Beijing calls “bilingual education” is more accurately described by the International Tibet Network as a “cradle to grave” education system, where “new methods of 'controlling minds' have been imposed from an early age, with Tibetan toddlers increasingly being subjected to ideological education in hundreds of new and expanded kindergartens across Tibet.” ........ A Tibetan toddler, after attending the “bilingual kindergarten” for a couple of months, came home one day speaking only in Chinese. Her parents were horrified when they realized that their daughter could no longer communicate with her grandparents, who spoke only Tibetan. ........... if children inherit genes from their parents, they inherit culture from their grandparents ........ the vast and growing network of state-led “bilingual kindergartens,” which permanently damage the children’s relationship with their grandparents, are clearly designed to stem the intergenerational transmission of culture and fundamentally reconfigure Tibetan identity. ....... Tibet remains an information black hole. Even North Korea, the hermetically sealed nation, has allowed the Associated Press and the Agence France-Press to establish bureaus on the ground, but

there is not a single foreign reporter in Tibet

. .......... Beijing uses big-data technology of surveillance and state-of-the-art infrastructure of repression –– including the “convenience police stations” and the “double-linked households system,” innovated by Chen Quanguo during his tenure in Tibet –– to keep Tibetans, much like Uyghurs, in a general state of fear. ........ Calling its ethnic unity education “an engineering project of the soul,” Xi Jinping’s China aims for nothing less than to “transform ethnic cultures and identities” as a permanent solution to what it views as the two biggest challenges to its cultural unity and political stability: Tibet and Xinjiang. ......... To conclude, imagine a detective who, after failing to find a gun or a knife in the house of an abusive husband, decides that his battered wife calling for help has no reason to fear for her life. When, in fact, any number of items in the house can be retooled into a deadly weapon. ........... as China wages its multifaceted campaign to displace Tibetan language, erase Tibetan Buddhism, and relocate the nomads from the grasslands into the ghettos, Tibetans get the unmistakable feeling that their culture is undergoing death by a thousand cuts. There is no single policy that destroys a people, no single bullet that kills a culture. It is the totality of state policies and strategies whose interaction creates a complex process that ultimately chokes a culture and lowers it into its coffin, not overnight but over time.

आत्म निर्भरता भनेको उल्लु कुरा हो

Trade Not Aid -------- गरीब देश हरुले धनी देश हरुलाई भन्दै आएका छन, हामीलाई फॉरेन ऐड पर्दैन, बरु हाम्रा सामान आयात गरिदेउ। हुन पनि अहिले दुनिया भरि नै remittance ले चमत्कार गरेको समय छ। Remittance को अगाडि Foreign Aid भनेको सुर्य को अगाडि दीपक।

नेपाल लाई अगाडि बढ्नु छ भने सकेसम्म धेरै देश हरु सँग व्यापार गर्ने सोँच्नु पर्छ। भारत सँग व्यापार बंद गरेर चीन सँग बरु व्यापार गर्ने सोंच ले चीन लाई हँसाउँछ। यत्रो सानो देश छ। दुनिया हल्लाएको देश चीन। अमेरिका सँग व्यापारिक प्रतिस्प्रधा गर्ने देश चीन। नेपाल को व्यापारिक volume नै कति छ र! Plus, it has to make economic sense. उत्तर को बाटो विकट छ। त्यसै कारण चीन बाट आउने अधिकांश सामान कोलकाता र वीरगंज को बाटो नै आउँछ। समुन्द्र को बाटो सस्तो हो।

नेपाल बाट मान्छे काम गर्न विदेश जान्छन्। त्यसरी बाहिर जानु अगाडि नै शिक्षित भएर, सीप सिकेर गए बढ़ी कमाउँछ। अनि पछि देश मैं व्यवसाय गर्ने वातावरण बनेछ भने फर्केर पनि आउँछ। जब अमेरिका लाई २००८ को मंदी ले हिरकार्यो, थुप्रै चिनिया चीन फर्के, थुप्रै भारतीय भारत फर्के। चीन र भारत मैं बढ़ी कमाई हुने देखे।

मलेशिया कतार गएर महिना को १०-२० हजार कमाउने नेपाली ले नेपाल मा ८-१२ हजार कमाउने उपाय पाए नेपाल नै फर्किन्छ होला।

भारत सँग को व्यापार बंद गरेर त्यो व्यापार चीन लाई दिएर चीन लाई हँसाउने होइन कि भारत सँग व्यापार पनि बढाउने र चीन सँग को व्यापार पनि बढाउने। तरिका त्यो हो। चीन को पूँजी तानेर नेपालमा जलविद्युत विकास गर्ने अनि त्यो बिजली भारत लाई बेचने। भारत खुद तेल र ग्यास बाट बिजुली तर्फ जान चाहन्छ।

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