The Great Blockade – How Trump’s Tariff Policy Turns the Global Economy into a Pawn of His Power Plays

With a single stroke of the pen, Donald Trump has done what economists had been warning about for months – he has plunged the world into an economic state of emergency. As of Thursday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, the most sweeping import tariffs in the history of the United States since the Great Depression have come into force. Over 60 countries, including close allies such as the EU, Japan, Canada, and India, are affected. For the American economy, for international partners, and for millions of consumers, this means nothing less than a tectonic disruption of global trade flows – with an open ending. The scale of the measures is historic: on average, US consumers now have to expect prices for imported goods to rise by 18.3% – the highest tariff level since 1934. Particularly drastic is the announcement of a 100 percent surcharge on semiconductors and computer chips, which are the heart of modern technology found in almost every electronic device – from smartphones to washing machines. Companies that manufacture in the US are to be exempt, but the pressure to shift supply chains overnight amounts to an economic forced relocation. Trump justifies this move with the alleged goal of “finally making America independent of foreign supply chains.” In reality, however, this course is a dangerous game of fire. Semiconductors are not cheap low-end products but highly complex components requiring decades of expertise, specialized materials, and precision manufacturing. Countries like Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan have built global market shares in this sector that cannot be shifted by decree from Washington.

On top of that comes a political powder keg: India, officially a strategic partner of the US in the Indo-Pacific region, suddenly finds itself confronted with a 50% punitive tariff – a reaction to Delhi’s decision to continue importing Russian oil. The Modi government called it a “regrettable and dangerous signal” that strains an already fragile trade partnership. Prime Minister Modi publicly declared that India “will never put the interests of its farmers at risk” – a reference to Washington’s attempt to open up the Indian agricultural sector to American products. The message from New Delhi is clear: the US cannot buy obedience. At the same time, Trump is using the tariff regime as a tool of political pressure – as in the case of Brazil, whose import tariffs on US goods have been linked to the legal situation surrounding Jair Bolsonaro. Canada, meanwhile, is said by the White House to be doing too little to combat drug trafficking and cross-border crime and is being hit with a 35% tariff. These are sanctions that resemble geopolitical blackmail more than rational trade policy. The reactions from the business world range from panic to tactical silence. Many car manufacturers are initially trying to absorb the new costs – a strategy that can only last a short time. The state of Michigan, the heart of the US auto industry, is likely to be particularly affected by the new semiconductor tariffs. And international corporations like Sony are warning: although the effects have so far been less than feared, uncertainty is rising. Billions in costs and stagnating supply chains are looming.

Particularly problematic is the timing. After months of threats, Trump repeatedly postponed the implementation of his April tariffs, most recently by 90 days. But instead of sustainable agreements, there followed only hasty correspondence with world leaders that read like traffic tickets – a list of tariffs, without diplomatic context, without regard for existing negotiations. The “deals” that emerged from this were at best shaky ceasefires – and at worst political time bombs. Meanwhile, Asia is already suffering from immediate collateral damage. In India, the federation of export organizations warns that 55% of all exports to the US are at risk. Textile factories in slums like Dharavi in Mumbai are expecting layoffs and the collapse of orders. “This sudden explosion in costs is simply not sustainable for us,” said S.C. Ralhan, president of the federation, in an initial statement. Opposition politician Rahul Gandhi put it even more bluntly: Trump’s strategy is nothing less than “economic blackmail.” In fact, much of it resembles an aggressive realignment of American foreign and trade policy – bypassing multilateral rules and with the declared goal of not managing trade flows but dominating them.

And yet the global response has been astonishingly weak. Despite massive interference in global trade – from punitive tariffs to export restrictions to political coercion – a coordinated response from the international community has largely failed to materialize. The WTO has been systematically weakened, bilateral trade talks have often ended without results, and countries like Germany or France have made critical remarks but rarely responded concretely or decisively. Even the EU has so far not taken sharp countermeasures. The world is being led around by the nose – and hardly anyone is resisting. At the same time, many media outlets are outdoing one another in their failure. The majority of established newsrooms – especially in the English-speaking world – report on Trump’s economic policies in the neutral language of wire services, without deeper analysis of the economic or legal implications. Many journalists pass along Trump’s narratives (“America First,” “China pays the tariffs”) almost unfiltered, instead of assessing the real effects on consumers, international partners, and the global order. Investigative journalism remains the exception. Critical commentary has become a footnote. Only a few editorial teams with a focus on economics or foreign policy – such as Handelsblatt, The Atlantic, or Foreign Affairs – still stand up against the tide. Trump has also managed, through targeted sensory overload – daily threats, abrupt changes of course, staged deals – to create a kind of chronic state of exception that many newsrooms increasingly treat as “business as usual.” Public perception is becoming numb. Even far-reaching, internationally destabilizing measures such as the 100% tariff on semiconductors often don’t even make it to the front pages.

Even in the US, however, criticism is growing. Trump’s claim that tariffs are paid by foreign companies is, according to economists, simply false: American importers pay the duties – and pass them on, sooner or later, to consumers and businesses. The US customs agency CBP collects the fees, but the burden is especially felt by low-income households, whose everyday goods are becoming more expensive. Washing machines, refrigerators, televisions, but also medications and computer components are becoming more costly. Trump, on the other hand, is relying on reshoring: those who produce in the US are spared. So he demonstratively met with Apple CEO Tim Cook in the Oval Office to announce the new chip strategy – 100% tariffs on all chips from abroad, “unless you build in America.” But while Apple has already relocated parts of its production to Texas, other companies cannot follow – they lack the billions in investment, the expertise, and the infrastructure to build factories out of the ground within months. Looking back reveals the imbalance: Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 was a broad, bipartisan industrial policy that invested over 50 billion dollars in research, subsidies, and training programs. Trump, on the other hand, categorically rejects state support – his model is based on coercion and isolation. The market is supposed to fix it, if necessary with a whip.

And so the world stands at the beginning of a new economic age: fragmented, tense, full of risks. It is still unclear how deep the damage will be. But one thing is already certain: Donald Trump did not understand the instrument of tariffs as an economic tool – but as a political weapon. And those who wield this weapon turn the world into a pawn of their power games – and their own population into unwilling participants. Because the truth is: these tariffs are flowing directly out of Americans’ pockets. It is the importers who pay – and they pass the costs on. To the consumers. To the families. No president before him has ever boasted so loudly about taxing his own people. And the fact that Republicans in Congress are standing by and letting it happen is not only politically negligent – it is a disgrace. But it is not just political failure in the US, or in Germany – it is also a collective looking away that, over years, has led to a system in which irresponsibility is rewarded and resistance reduced to a footnote.

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