How did global trade start?

For decades, two multi-national giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have been competing for one of the world’s biggest consumer markets.And now they face a tough competition from Asia’s richest man. Mukesh Ambani’s company - Reliance Retail, has launched its own cola brand - Campa Cola. With its vast retail network and aggressive pricing strategy, we find out how this has intensified the so called 'cola wars' in the country. Produced and presented by Devina Gupta(Image: A group of young people drinking soft drinks at a bowling alley. Credit: Getty Images)

Today we’re in Jeddah, looking at how Saudi Arabia went from a Kingdom where cinemas were banned to a rising star in the film industry. We hear from Saudis revelling in new-found freedoms and foreign filmmakers lured in by cash incentives. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Emily Wither(Picture: US actor Johnny Depp poses for a picture with a fan on the red carpet of the awards ceremony of the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, December 2024. Credit: Getty Images)

We are in the Central American country of Guatemala to hear how temporary work permits to the United States are changing some Guatemalan’s lives. We find out how this circular migration is benefiting both businesses in the US, and the economy back home in Guatemala.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]/producer: Jane Chambers(Photo: Sandra Noemi Bucu Saz in her plot of land that she rents with her family in Guatemala. Credit: Jane Chambers)

The French businessman was Director-General of the WTO from 2005–2013, and European commissioner for trade for five years from 1999 – 2004. Ed Butler speaks to Pascal Lamy about the trading relationships between the US and China, and the US and the EU, what a second Trump presidency might mean for world trade. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]: Amber Mehmood(Picture: Pascal Lamy, photo taken in Paris, November 2022. Credit: Getty Images)

We look at what a second Donald Trump presidency could mean for Africa, hearing from economists and business owners.We explore some of the existing trade pacts between the US and Africa, and consider the significance of remittances - the money sent back home by African migrants living overseas. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Michael Kaloki(Picture: Then President Donald Trump walks with the former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on the White House colonnade as they make their way to the Oval Office, on February 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images)

Donald Trump has said he will impose new tariffs on goods entering the US from Canada on his first day in office. Tariffs are a central part of the President-elect's economic vision - he sees them as a way of growing the US economy, protecting jobs and raising tax revenue. But some warn they could inflate consumer prices. We look at how Canada is preparing, hearing from those in key sectors like farming and car manufacturing, and explore how the resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could affect things.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]: Sam Gruet Producer: Megan Lawton(Picture: Ben Loewith, a third-generation dairy farmer, who runs summit dairy in Hamilton, Ontario, pictured in the dairy. Credit: Sam Gruet/Megan Lawton/BBC)

Even before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose huge trade tariffs on Mexico, deport millions of undocumented Latino migrants out of the United States and crack down on the flow of drugs like fentanyl from Latin America into the US. And he's threatened to take control of the Panama Canal and re-name the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”. He has criticised the BRICS group of developing nations – which includes Brazil – for floating the idea of a new currency to challenge the dominance of the US dollar in international trade. And he has praised Argentina’s maverick right-wing president Javier Milei for cutting state expenditure. So what will Trump’s second presidency mean for Latin America – a region that used to be known as “America’s back yard”? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Gideon Long Additional reporting by Vianey Alderete in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico(Picture: The border wall on the US-Mexico border, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico October 23, 2024. Credit: Reuters)

As US president-elect Donald Trump prepares to re-enter the White House, global trade has become a contentious issue. Mr Trump has threatened to impose tariffs – that is taxes at the border – on all goods imported from a host of nations, including neighbours Canada and Mexico as well as economic rival China. That risks igniting another trade war, with companies and consumers around the world affected. Has global commerce always been so contentious? Rob Young looks at some of the key developments in international trade throughout history to work out how we got to the system and practices we have today.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected](Picture: Hands of woman showing seeds in a souk. Seeds are believed to be one of the earliest items to be traded in the world. Credit: Getty Images)

Sam Fenwick meets the renowned fashion designer and shoemaker, Jimmy Choo. From learning the craft under his father's guidance in Malaysia, we hear about his journey building a fashion empire in London, starting from the basement of a run-down hospital. Today, Jimmy Choo, who now designs for fashion house The Atelier, wants to share his knowledge with a new generation. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]: Sam Fenwick Producer: Amber Mehmood(Picture: Jimmy Choo at an event run by his fashion college, the London Fashion Academy. Credit: BBC)

In our second programme looking at the future of the world's ports, we head to the South American country at the centre of a global tug-of-war between China and the US.One key infrastructure project, in the small Peruvian fishing town of Chancay, is caught in the middle. We speak to businesses and locals about what's happening.Produced by Natalie Jiminez Presented by Ritika Gupta(Image: Aerial view of the Chancay "megaport" in the small town of Chancay, 78km north of the Peruvian capital Lima, in October 2024.Credit: Getty Images)