The global trade finance gap rose 15% to $1.7 trillion in 2020 as COVID-19 sent shock waves through trade and supply chains, according to a survey conducted by the Asian Development Bank.

Urgent demand for medical equipment to fight the coronavirus has sent the cost of chartering aircraft skyrocketing and turned a typically humdrum process into an ultra-competitive auction.

Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president sparked warnings of damaging trade wars and an end to globalization as we know it. So far, those predictions haven’t played out.