Recent discussion of neoliberalism has turned from its seemingly inevitable and monolithic character to its contingencies, limits and frailties. Its value as a category of explanation is also being questioned. This chapter examines global free trade through the lens of a dead mouse that catalyzed a global botulism scare in mid-2013 and threatened to overturn economic relationships established by the NZ-China Free Trade Agreement. Inside this story are many others: the messiness of routine globalizing economy, the vibrant materialities of non-human actors and the growing disjuncture between rhetorics of trade liberalization and the actual work of assembling and experimenting in new trade spaces. The chapter argues for a post-structuralist political economy that highlights messiness in economic practice and seeks a new politics of accountability.