The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 84, February 2026 Page 12 From the series Chronicles of the new American nationalism The Supreme Court has been asked to rule on the emergency powers used by President Donald Trump to advance two key policies of his mandate: the decision to deploy the National Guard on American soil in support of his immigration policy, and the imposition of tariffs on almost every trading partner. In December, the Court issued a ruling which was unfavourable to the administration regarding the deployment of the National Guard in Illinois. At the time of writing, a ruling is expected that could declare the Liberation Day tariffs illegal. In addition, the Court is examining the dismissal of Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board. Scepticism among judges The White House imposed the reciprocal tariffs in April by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA, 1977), according to which the president...

Internationalism No. 84, February 2026 Page 10 With the leverage of reciprocal tariffs, announced on liberation day in April and implemented from August, Donald Trump has so far wrested around fifteen advantageous bilateral agreements with the United Kingdom, the EU, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Argentina, and other smaller countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Due to its unique characteristics, the agreement with Malaysia stands out and is considered by the White House a model, demonstrating the strategic ambitions of the tariff war. An Article 5 At the end of October, the Malaysian government hosted the 47 th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), celebrating the accession of East Timor as its 11 th member. At the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Trump announced two framework agreements with Vietnam and Thailand, and two reciprocal trade agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia. These results went relatively ...

Internationalism No. 82, December 2025 Page 9 On the Chinese front of his trade offensive, Donald Trump, from his first term onwards, has combined tariffs on imports from China with US export controls aimed at Beijing's technological containment , such as the ban on supplying the latest generation of software and chips to telecommunications giant Huawei. Democratic President Toe Biden confirmed many of these measures in the ambiguous formula of a "small vard with a high fence": severe restrictions but limited to technologies deemed sensitive for national security. Underground panic The Chinese government has responded blow for blow, both with trade tariffs on US goods and by rationing export licences for strategic raw materials. In this way, it has been said, the trade battle has extended into manufacturing supply chains, opening a technological cold war with new forms of deterrence. In 2023, for example, pressure from the White...

Internationalism No. 80, October 2025 Page 9 Amid constant contradictions and deliberate ambiguities, Donald Trump has never clarified to what extent his trade war is conceived as an end in itself – new protectionist barriers to stymie global competition – or as a means of international intimidation, serving other political objectives. So far, this duplicitous lack of clarity remains: the powers that have come to terms with the American president, such as the European Union and Japan, and yielded to his main demands, are nonetheless suffering a significant increase in tariffs. The British model After declaring economic war on Liberation Day in April, Trump immediately changed course at the first signs of financial panic, proclaiming a three-month tariff truce. In May, Keir Starmer’s British Labour government was the first to accept the unilateral conditions imposed by the White House. Although it was not contributing to the US trade deficit, the...