Donald Trump’s imperialism is the latest tool to advance the hegemony of US capital

Prem Sikka 

Today

Left Foot Forward

Trump's policies are not isolationism. They're seeking to thwart the emergence of a multipolar world.

The position of the US as a global hegemon is under challenge. The Chinese economy has been growing at faster rates than the US and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) economies have grown to create possibilities of a multipolar world. This threatens domination of the US corporations. This is accompanied by growing US government debt and the rising cost of living. The Trump administration’s response is to impose trade tariffs on countries, threaten invasions and return to the nineteenth century imperialism, which will create instability.

Trump’s policies damage the rules-based global order implemented after the Second World War. It was based on the idea that co-operation rather than confrontation should be the norm. Consent rather than dominance should be the rule. It was woven around an institutional architecture which included the United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and a variety of other institutions. The architecture was underwritten by the US and its western allies, and enabled capital to extract surpluses in an orderly way.

The smooth extraction of economic surpluses requires stability. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter states that “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”

The rules-based order has provided economic growth, but did not prevent powerful nations from enforcing control over geographical spheres. The Soviet Union invaded Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Afghanistan. The US has initiated 201 out of 248 armed conflicts since the end of WWII. Vast swathes of the Middle East (including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Iran) have been destabilised to secure oil and gas to lubricate the US economy and boost corporate profits.

Corporate interests are deeply embedded in the US political system. No one can run for public office without financial support from corporations. The pay-off is friendly government policies, bigger profits and tax concessions. Public posture may be about aiding democracy but corporations have a history of supporting obnoxious regimes, coups, and regime changes, all in pursuit of profits. In that context, the rules-based system is not sacrosanct. If it an obstacle to accumulation, then it too is dispensable.

Such objectives coalesced with the 2024 election of Donald Trump as the US President Trump, and his allies reconstructed the state with the populist nationalist slogan of “America First”, which is equated with bigger corporate profits. Self-reliance is another theme but that can’t be secured without control of raw materials which the US may not have.

In a departure from the past, Trump has eschewed traditional bureaucratic approaches to policymaking. Instead, like medieval monarchs, policies are primarily crafted by a network that includes Trump, his family members, business associates and a clique of insiders. Numerous policies have been made by executive orders rather than laws passed by the Congress. Very reminiscent of the famous line in the Hollywood movie The Godfather “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse”, Trump expects other countries to change their policies to serve the US or face trade tariffs and military interventions. If the global institutions are seen to be a barrier to the US domination, then they too must be abandoned. Trump has walked away from many global treaties and institutions on the grounds that their objectives are not aligned with America First policies. Examples include the Paris climate agreement, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Global Compact on Migration. In January 2026 Trump announced that the US will withdraw from 66 global organisations, 31 UN and 35 non-UN entities.

American capitalism can’t be served without weakening other countries and trade groupings. Trump dislikes the European Union (EU) and favours a Europe without the EU. In the words of one commentator, “He hates it because it has a big trade surplus with America, because its size and economic power make it a tough negotiator and because it tends to fine American companies”. Trump supports far-right political parties in Europe to disintegrate the EU.

Trump demands that US tech companies be exempt from the UK and European taxes, and the OECD has obliged. The UK government is appeasing Trump by agreeing to pay 25% more for US drugs used in the National Health Service. It has also agreed to tax managers of private equity entities, predominantly controlled from the US, at lower tax rates. Their income is taxed as a capital gain, which is lower than the rate for wages. Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk has considered handing $100m donation to the UK-based far-right Reform party and advance Trump’s project. Reform opposes worker rights and welfare state, considered to be a barrier to bigger corporate profits.

BRICS countries have grown in economic and political importance and are likely to be key pillars of a multipolar world. They especially want to dethrone the role of US$ as a global currency and facilitate trade payments in local currencies. This would reduce profits of US financial institutions and government grip on global trade. Trump has threatened 100% tariffs on BRICS countries’ trade with the US if they moved ahead with their own currency to rival the US dollar.

Indeed, tariffs have become an integral part of US policy though on occasions Trumps has been willing to cut deals with powerful adversaries. At one stage, Trump threatened 145% tariffs on US imports from China. When China retaliated and sought to curb export of rare earth minerals, Trump reduced the tariffs to an average rate of 27.8%. In contrast India, a security ally, is in a weaker bargaining position and has faced tariffs of up to 50%. This includes a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil. However, no equivalent penalty has been imposed on China and the EU even though they buy Russian oil and gas. Despite the tariffs, BRICS economies have been resilient. Trump is now supporting a Bill threatening 500% tariffs on India, China and Brazil ostensibly for importing Russian oil, which could stunt their economic growth.

Tariffs shelter the US economy from foreign competition and enable corporations to collect monopoly rents, but their success is not guaranteed. Exporting countries can adopt numerous defensive tactics. They can route exports through low-tariff third countries, build new alliances and devalue local currencies, which would make US exports more expensive and spur local economic production.

The tariffs strategy is supplemented with the policy to grab minerals from other countries. This can be a financial deal whilst the threat of territorial annexation is never taken off the table. Trump has secured access to Ukraine’s minerals as a price for US support against Russian invasion. Trump has resurrected the 1960s domino-theory which was used to expand war in Vietnam to Cambodia, and Laos. The belief was that if one country fell to communism, others would follow. That did not happen even after the US was ejected. Nevertheless, the theory has been revised, and the view is that if one country is forced to yield its wealth to the US, others would follow.

The seizure of Venezuela and kidnapping of its President and his wife is accompanied by threats to Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Panama. Threats are made to mineral-rich Greenland, which is part of Denmark and a member of NATO. Trump covets Canada and has threatened armed intervention in Iran. The threat of attacks has little to do with curbing the narcotics trade. The US has abundance of home-grown criminals. Trump pardoned former Honduran president and convicted drug trafficker Juan Orlando Hernández. It is nothing to do with advancing liberties as Trump has praised the likes of Viktor Orbán (Hungary), Nayib Bukele (El Salvador), Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines) and others. The US has sponsored plenty of oppressive regimes. It is all about controlling puppet regimes, acquiring wealth and serving US corporations.

Trump has declared that he is not constrained by international law, and will use force, if necessary, to support US capitalism. He has threatened military strikes on Mexico and told Cuba to “make a deal” or face consequences. He has threatened military action against Colombia. Trump has promised action on Greenland “whether they like it or not … I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way”. A Trump-aide said that no one would militarily challenge the United States over the future of Greenland. With 877 military bases in 95 countries Trump may be able to back his threats but securing dominance is something else altogether. Maybe those intoxicated with power have forgotten the lessons of defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

It is tempting to portray Trump’s policies as the acts of an isolationist individual. Such a perspective ignores the crisis of American capitalism and impulses to thwart the emergence of a multipolar world. His right-wing policies are the latest tools for advancing hegemony of US capital and will create instability.

Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward.