We trade art abroad to stay afloat (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
tread water
'stay afloat' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'we trade art abroad' is the wordplay.
'abroad' is an anagram indicator (letters move around or go abroad).
'we'+'trade'+'art'='wetradeart'
'wetradeart' anagrammed gives 'TREAD WATER'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for tread water that I've seen before include "unwilling to go with the flow?" , "Mainly make no progress" , "having no solid base" , "Hold back from making progress" , "Make little or no progress" .)