Countries that have most successfully used trade as part of a high growth strategy tend to exhibit a distinct trading pattern that maximises learning. The evidence points to three main strategies: first, trading itself matters, as firms learn from a larger market; second, with whom you trade matters, as richer and more technologically advanced trading partners offer more scope for learning; and, third, what products you trade matters, as more sophisticated tradables are linked to more intensive learning and greater discovery of new economic opportunities. The recent global crisis may create forces that could accentuate the need for learning, as well as opportunities for it. Trade-induced learning of a more South–South flavour is likely to prove critical for future success.