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Who’s up and who’s down after 12 tumultuous months.

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The trade world has had its ups and downs over 2021.

The recovery from the pandemic has been bumpy, with global supply chains struggling. The inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden improved transatlantic trade relations and led to some tariff relief between Brussels and Washington in disputes over steel and aircraft subsidies. But the change in U.S. administration did not revive the World Trade Organization, and tensions with China have only risen.

What 2022 has on the cards remains to be seen. Beijing’s pursuit of geopolitical might is likely to push Brussels to a more assertive trade policy. And while France has hit the pause button on the EU’s trade deals during its upcoming presidency of the Council, the Czechs might choose to reverse that during their reign in the second half of the year. 

But before we get into those coming fights, let’s take a look back on the winners and losers of world trade in 2021.

Denis Redonnet: The Frenchman was appointed the EU’s chief trade enforcement officer and has been portrayed by DG TRADE as the new superhero who defends EU companies in foreign markets and can press charges when countries breach their climate or labor promises in trade deals. The position makes him a key person for Brussels’ new and more assertive trade strategy. The wide range of novel trade defense measures the EU is setting up will only make Redonnet more powerful.

European and American steel producers: Steel producers on both sides of the Atlantic breathed a sigh of relief when Brussels and Washington agreed to press pause on their trade war over steel and aluminum tariffs. European producers can now export the amounts of steel to the U.S. that they did before the trade war and the pandemic, even though quotas are in place. On the other side of the Atlantic, American steel producers lobbied Biden’s administration hard not to fully drop the protections of the Trump-era and won some quota limits to stop European exports going too high in the pandemic recovery. The EU and U.S. also agreed to join forces to tackle global steel overcapacity, mainly stemming from China. 

Liz Truss: The former Remain supporter cast herself as Brexiteer in chief during her time as a U.K. trade secretary. Despite a questionable scorecard at the U.K. trade department, Truss shot up to the top of the cabinet approval rankings among Conservative Party members and was promoted in September to foreign secretary. Truss is also the U.K.’s chief post-Brexit negotiator since David Frost dramatically resigned. She’s now one of the top two contenders to take over from the flailing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

French farmers: French President Emmanuel Macron has increasingly become the farmers’ friend as he is gearing up for an expected reelection race in April, and the push from Paris has made its mark on the EU’s free trade agenda — or rather, the lack of an EU free trade agenda. The queue of trade deals waiting to be concluded or ratified is becoming longer and longer with Chile and New Zealand being the latest to be stuck in the waiting room. France has been trying to steer the lumbering EU trade tanker in a more assertive direction for years, but the combination of the upcoming French presidential election and the French Presidency of the Council next year has upped Paris’ lobbying efforts.

Ports: While international trade almost ground to a halt during the first few months of the pandemic in 2020, this year saw consumers come back to the fore. While harbors were emptier than usual last year, this year they faced the opposite problem, with goods piling up. But that’s not a bad thing for those running the harbors, who could hike their storage fees. In Germany’s Hamburg port, for example, shipping company HHLA conceded that their 2021 revenue increase was mainly “a result of longer container dwell times” at the terminals. And Hamburg is no exception: Ports from the U.S. east and west coasts, and from Antwerp to Abu Dhabi recorded profit gains this year, while shipping giant Maersk’s shares also saw its profits rise.

The Ever Given (and supply chains in general): 2021 has been (another) difficult year for global supply chains, and nothing illustrated that more clearly than the Empire State Building-sized container ship Ever Given which blocked the Suez Canal for a week in March. The holdup impacted customers, retailers and manufacturers already struggling with the disruption of supply chains by the pandemic. 

Didier Reynders: EU justice chief Didier Reynders failed this year to introduce new rules to hold companies accountable for human rights and environmental abuses in their supply chains. Reynders’ brainchild has become a political mess — this year, Germany introduced its own supply chain law, which is significantly weaker than what Brussels wants, and EU industry defender Thierry Breton swooped in on the file in May, in a move that pleased businesses. 

On top of that, the Commission’s in-house quality control squad gave a red light twice in a row to the draft law, a rare occurrence that casts more uncertainty on the future of the legislation. The Commission intended to release the draft law in June 2021, but it’s been delayed time and time again — Brussels now has it tentatively set for February 15.

The WTO (and its response to vaccine inequality): India and South Africa’s push for a sweeping intellectual property waiver on vaccines has not led to any breakthrough in the World Trade Organization to make sure the developing world gets more jabs. Rich nations, including the EU, say patent protection is vital to ensure that Big Pharma continues to pour cash into research, while developing countries argue that patents prevent cheap access to cures. 

Maria Martin-Prat: After seven years of negotiations over an EU-China investment deal, chief negotiator Maria-Martin Prat managed to conclude the deal just before last New Year. But the deal was immediately criticized because of its geopolitical implications, such as upsetting the newly elected U.S. president. The deal then officially ended up in the political freezer because of Chinese sanctions against EU lawmakers. Despite the continuous paeans from DG TRADE about the economic benefits from the deal and the concessions negotiated from China, Martin-Prat’s deal isn’t going anywhere soon. 

Brexiteers who wanted to get Brexit done: EU-U.K. negotiators landed a Brexit deal on Christmas Eve of 2020, but that didn’t mean Brexit was done in 2021. The row over Northern Ireland in particular will continue next year as six months of unfruitful negotiations over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland led to a unilateral move by the European Commission to ease restrictions on British drug manufacturers supplying to the region, but the gap on all other issues remains wide.

This article is part of POLITICO ’s premium policy service Pro Trade. From transatlantic trade wars to the U.K.’s future trading relationship with the EU and rest of the world, Pro Trade gives you the insight you need to plan your next move. Email [email protected] for a complimentary trial.

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