$(1)$ Based on your timely research, what are the most recent expert forecasts of Global Merchandise Trade VOLUME change for the full year $($FY$)2024$ over the full year $($FY$)2023$ levels? How does the $2024$ Global Merchandise Trade VOLUME forecast for $2024$ FY over $2023$ FY compare to the measurements of $2023$ FY Global Merchandise Trade VOLUME change over $2022$ FY levels? Be sure to provide in$-$text citations of the date and sources for your forecast analysis.

$(2)$ Please discuss three unique, substantive reasons for why the most current forecast of Global Merchandise Trade volume for $2024$ FY is increasing or decreasing $($depending on your answer for part $1$ of the Discussion Questions$)$ compared to $2023$ FY volume. These reasons should be based on quality articles, research, blogs, etc. that you find, and use, so be sure to cite in your post and include both date of the research and source.

$(3)$ The June $21,2023,$ UNCTAD report referenced in the above Discussion Question overview, refers to an $$ongoing decline in trade interdependence between the United States and China$$ along with the recent increase in $$friend$-$shoring$.$ Why would these trends in the patterns within Global Merchandise Trade Volume be important to the decision$-$makers at the shipping container company?