President Donald Trump’s tariffs on some 90 countries went into effect Aug. 7. The U.S. rulers’ aim is to strengthen their competitive edge against their rivals and expand U.S. industrial capacity as they prepare for the inevitable wars to come.
Tensions have sharpened among the capitalist rulers worldwide since Moscow’s murderous war on the people of Ukraine began in 2022 and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, pogrom, killing 1,200 people, the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. The U.S. rulers — and their allies and rivals alike — are acquiring new weaponry, from powerful drones to deadly laser beams and more.
Washington wields tariffs as part of the U.S. rulers’ broader moves to defend their weakening world supremacy. It also seeks to win allies as it prepares to push back against the growing economic and military weight of Beijing, its foremost adversary.
Trump’s Aug. 7 tariff rates start at 15%. They were originally announced April 2, then suspended for 90 days after an outcry from capitalist investors when the price of bonds tumbled.
The administration used the three-month pause to press the European Union and allied governments in Japan, the U.K. and elsewhere to voluntarily agree to trade deals favorable to Washington and concessions to U.S. producers.
As part of a trade agreement reached with Washington, the bloc of governments in the EU pledged to buy $750 billion of U.S. energy products and accepted a 15% tariff on all goods exported to the U.S.
“Europe’s Summer of Humiliation” read the Financial Times headline July 31 reporting the deal. It noted the pact followed a separate agreement Washington pressed on the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden to purchase U.S.-made weapons they would then donate to Ukraine.
Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on India Aug. 7 to try to push the Narendra Modi government to halt oil purchases from Moscow. President Vladimir Putin’s regime has offset sanctions imposed by Washington by increasing oil sales to India and China.
Washington is stepping up pressure on Moscow, as the U.S. rulers seek an outcome ending Putin’s war on Ukraine in a way that advances the U.S. rulers’ own predatory aims. At the same time, Washington wants to maximize chances of pulling Moscow away from its growing ties to Beijing.
The U.S. rulers also look to extend their power across Europe and to break up the fragile BRICS bloc of governments — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — set up to rival Washington’s dominance.
U.S. rulers’ drive against Beijing
One of Washington’s central goals, reflected in its trade clashes, is to rebuild the U.S. rulers’ industrial capacity, especially in industries and technologies that are vital for war. And, at the same time, to prevent Beijing from acquiring those technologies. This is a bipartisan policy.
In the years leading up to World War II, the massive expansion of U.S. industrial capacity helped pave the way for the rulers’ conversion of production for trade to the large-scale manufacturing of weaponry and military equipment.
This was critical to U.S. imperialism emerging as the victor out of the slaughter.
In July, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on copper, following duties on steel and aluminum earlier this year. Copper is widely used in aircraft, naval vessels and military communication systems.
On Aug. 15 Trump announced plans for up to 300% tariffs on semiconductors, crucial components in military hardware, from fighter jets to missile guidance systems. The most advanced semiconductors are made today in Taiwan where the government is allied with Washington.
Trump’s move builds on the Biden administration’s 2022 “Chips Act,” which subsidized companies that moved semiconductor production to the U.S. Biden also restricted semiconductor sales to China and kept in place the ban on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei that was imposed by the first Trump administration.
As this conflict increases, Beijing and Washington agreed to extend a temporary truce in their trade war to Nov. 10. Washington seeks to strengthen its alliances and see how its other tariffs work out before launching any stepped-up attack on Beijing.