WHEN TARRIFS BECOME A POLITICAL WEAPON

US President Donald Trump has shocked America’s allies by lumping them together with the traditional foes such of the West in sweeping imposition of universal tariffs that have set in motion a global trade war.

In typical cowboy fashion, President left no one unscathed. The EU, UK, Japan, South Korea and next-door neighbor Canada are all reeling with shock and disbelief.

Many economists and market-watchers say they have never seen anything like Trump’s boisterous move this week. There is no evident precedent. Presidents, Prime Ministers, Queens and Kings – every leader of any kind – Trump has kicked each one in the backside. Of course the international community need not be foolish. They were duly warned during Trump’s election campaign when the then would-be-president number 47 of the US proudly declared that his favourite word in the dictionary is “tariffs”.

And now that Trump has made good on his promise, or threat, the global economy and geopolitics is in tailspin.

There are many adjectives to describe Trump’s shoot-from-hip and unpredictable nature. It doesn’t matter, damnit. The man is on a mission to Make America Great Again. And his MAGA revolution knows no bounds. Every capital, country or continent is on Trump’s sight. Even Lesotho, which no so long ago Trump said “no one has ever heard about it”, has made it to the global list of the Trump’s tariffs target. Holistically, all goods that are imported to the US are subject to a 10 percent tariff. America’s allies are learning the hard way that in politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies.

International Relations scholars are right to stress that the intersection between politics and economics can be quite tricky. Almost like the conundrum of the chicken and/or egg, which came first? It is difficult to figure which precedes which at the intersection of money and public office. The safest bet, however, is the acknowledgement that neither can do without the other.

In fact, in politics it is easy to discern how money can often catapult individuals – shady and honourable alike – to the highest office in their land.

Trump is one of the rare political figures who possess political power and his own money. To strengthen his hand, he has assembled several billionaires to his inner circle. They are led by the world’s wealthiest man, SA-born Elon Musk, who heads the inaugural department in the Trump administration known as DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).

Until recently, prior to Trump’s return to power, the US and the West were totally connected, inseparable. From the G7 to NATO, the US provided ideological guidance and financially ensured that none ever doth complained too much, if they did.

The common unifier behind the seemingly iron-clad relationship between Washington and the West was spurred the traditional Russophobia – the common hatred of the Kremlin, particularly under Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Of course Trump has reconfigured the entire global architecture in one shot. The shock and hidden, inward anger of the West, Trump has opened communication channels with Moscow, demanding that the Ukraine conflict that the West has rallied behind be brought to the end. In addition, Trump initiated direct talks with his Russian counterpart deemed a pariah by the West. In so doing, Trump left the entire Europe in the cold, insisting that the EU never talked peace, and now that Trump demands peace, the EU insist on being part of the deal. It’s going to be an uphill struggle for Europe. The disdain with which the Trump administration regards Europe was summed up by the new US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and the Vice President JD Vance, who openly claim that for far too long Europe has been freeloading on the US.

In fact, Trump himself recently stated that the EU was established to counter America’s hegemony.

In my view, Europe’s current geopolitical challenges are of its own making. Such blatant dependency on Washington since the end of World War II in 1945 was always bound to boomerang. Today, the harshest tariffs are proof that the chickens have come home to roost.

The weaknesses of Europe since outsourcing the bloc’s foreign policy to Washington are ubiquitous indeed.

Take for instance, Europe’s unreal silence in the wake of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and now across all occupied territories is a point in case. Had the EU been truly autonomous, the bloc would, and should be speaking out against the obvious transgression of internal law by the Jewish state of Israel.

But then, reliant on Washington holistically, Europe is afraid to bite the hand that feed the bloc. They’d rather remain silent, and keep their peace. Peace that is dependent on the culture of “freeloading”. Trump’s new tariffs are not the last. The man is hardly 100 days in office and has already altered global relations by turning them on their head. He still has four more years to go, so buckle up! Given Trump’s cantankerous nature, the road ahead is going to be a lot more bumpy for everyone, everywhere. The US boasts the world’s most formidable army, and is equally the world’s wealthiest economy.

This factor alone Trump demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt with his tariffs this week. Therefore, it’s a fact: When America sneezes, the world catches the cold!

The future of global turmoil is hard to fathom under the world order at whose helm Trump seats. For example, be warned: The Ukraine conflict will end sooner than Europe’s liking, and with their exclusion. Trump will pretty soon hold his much-anticipated face-to-face meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia. The talks will be followed instantly by direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has always been a pawn in the greater scheme of geopolitical battles. Former President Joe Biden dragged the dependent NATO into a proxy war against Russia, hoping that through a barrage of unprecedented economic sanctions Russia’s economy would crumble. Therefore, the outcome of the Ukraine talks will be what Trump wants, which is peace with Russia. Hence, he has already indicated that Russia need to be reinstated in the G7 to reform the bloc as G8 again. Unfortunately, or fortunately, what Trump wants, Trump gets. And this therefore bodes pretty bad for the Palestinians. No one speaks on their behalf anymore. South Africa did, and it is still Pretoria’s foreign policy stance to support Palestine. For this, SA has already paid a heavy, embarrassing price since Trump’s return. Pretoria’s envoy to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, was recently ejected quite unceremoniously from Washington. In return, SA President Cyril Ramaphosa appealed for cool heads and a halt within the country of any moves or utterances that could annoy the Trump administration any further.

The international community will continue to look to the other side while the US-backed Netanyahu regime annihilates the Palestinians. In fact, it must be official, despite the universal silence, Palestinians are an endangered species.

The trade war triggered by Trump’s firing of the first shot this week will engulf the global economy for the foreseeable future. Predictably, multinational firms will flock to the US to manufacture their goods there so they can evade Trump’s tariffs. Mistrust around the world will grow. Global prices will rise and inflation will set in and increase. Things will get worse before they get any better during Trump’s tenure as the world’s strongest man. We are in unchartered territory. It is what it is.