Trade growth for 2016 was under 2%. That's something that has happened only three times since 2000. On both prior occasions, the US was in recession.

What's ahead?

Please consider a couple of snips and a few charts from the 24-page PDF, Trade Developments in 2016: Policy Uncertainty Weighs on World Trade

"2016 is the fifth consecutive year of sluggish trade growth and the year with the weakest trade performance since the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. Current estimates of growth in the volumes of trade in goods and services range from 1.9 percent to 2.5 percent; preliminary high-frequency data suggest that merchandise trade volumes may have grown by slightly above 1 percent. The year 2016 is different from the other post-crisis years, in that trade sluggishness is a characteristic of both advanced and emerging economies.