The shipping shock now reverberating through the economy provides a glimpse of what a world without rules is like – and why a global exporter and importer such as Australia has a critical interest in maintaining free and open global trade.

As The Australia Financial Review’s reporting has highlighted, the 10-month-long Houthi missile blockade in the Red Sea is driving a new spike in import freight costs, putting price pressure on everything from sofas to sodas, and complicating the Reserve Bank’s inflation fight.