Canadian and American flags fly on the Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, on March 8, 2025. US President Donald Trump imposed vast tariffs this week on key partners Canada and Mexico, roiling cross-border ties before offering temporary relief to manufacturers — but with more levies kicking in next week, the respite may be fleeting. (Photo by Geoff Robins / AFP) (Photo by GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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The United States is entering a period where aggressive foreign‑policy moves are colliding with economic interdependence. Recent actions by the Trump administration — from tariff threats to visa cancellations and public pressure on key trade partners — are prompting measurable retaliation that directly affects U.S. supply chains, investment decisions and cross‑border commerce. There are times to see past the trees and find the forest. Now is such a moment.
Details are important. They are frequently the key to fixing problems. Replace this part on that car so it will run without making that terrible shaking noise. The braces holding the shelves pulled out of the wall because they were only attached by half-inch screws that didn’t extend past the sheetrock, let alone sink into the studs.
However, details can miss bigger issues. There might be other potential reasons for the car’s noise. The wall may not have correctly spaced studs, making proper bracing difficult even with longer screws. Maybe the auto manufacturer or general contractor takes shortcuts and makes errors, causing risk for more people.
When it comes to jarring international policy, events may seem like one-offs. A broader view shows something else: a string of efforts to dominate other countries and peoples. The process has also undercut many economic ties with the rest of the world. That could come back as a punishment.
A Long History Of U.S. Power Plays
Many current issues result from choices by Donald Trump and his administration. However, this isn’t all about current politics. Historically, long before Trump, the U.S. has done a lot of good globally but also has bullied its way around the world.
The following is an extremely short list: domination of Native tribes on the continent under the concept of manifest destiny; annexation of 525,000 square miles of Mexican territory during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848); annexation of Hawaii in 1898 due to economic interests; annexation of the Philippines from 1898 to 1946; and annexation of Guam and Puerto Rico, still owned by the U.S., that started as part of the Spanish-American War. None of that includes pressure applied by U.S. domination of financial markets.
Has Trump been much of a bully during his life? A 2020 “Frontline” piece called “Trump the ‘Bully’: How Childhood & Military School Shaped the Future President” argued that as he was growing up, Trump was taught that there were only winners and losers in the world.
Moving from the personal to the professionally political takes more nuance.
A Pattern Of Hegemonic Moves
Julian Borger wrote for The Guardian about Trump’s moves in Venezuela and his stated desires to take Greenland and convert Canada into a supersized U.S. state. The broader intent was stated in an official Department of State post on X: “This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.”
In early 2026, Trump threatened that he might attack the drug trade through land strikes on Mexico. When the EU levied heavy fines on Google ($1.039 billion) for breaching online competition laws, as The Guardian reported, Trump threatened the EU with “substantial” tariffs.
“We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller during an interview on CNN, speaking to host Jake Tapper. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time,” as the New York Times reported.
Borger wrote: “There appears to be disagreement within the administration – to the extent there is detailed discussion at all – on how to turn the president’s self-image of hemispheric emperor into a plan of action. Until that happens, what Trump has done in Venezuela is arguably not out of line with what the US has done around the world, but particularly in the Americas, when it was supposed to be abiding by the post-1945 ‘rules-based order’”.
Daniel Immerwahr, a historian and humanities professor at Northwestern University in Illinois and the author of How to Hide an Empire, said that “the U.S. empire never really ended.”
Part of the introduction to Borger’s piece said Trump’s expansionist talk is “simply standard U.S. foreign policy stripped of hypocrisy.”
Economic Pushback Takes Shape
Changes in global economic dynamics have made the foundation of domination uncertain. Canada, for one, is the second-largest trading partner of the U.S. The U.S. Census noted that in June 2026 alone, the U.S. imported $37.2 billion of goods, or 11.7% of total imports, from its northern neighbor, including such staples as oil, vehicles and auto parts, lumber, machinery and industrial equipment. Exports to Canada were $30.7 billion, or 14.7% of the total.
Mexico is the largest U.S. trade partner. June exports from the U.S. were $33.9 billion (16.3%); imports were $55.3 billion (17.4%). Those imports, important to the U.S. economy’s ability to operate, are vehicles, machinery, electrical equipment and produce.
Trump threw the entire North American trade agreement, the USMCA, into a tailspin on July 1, by refusing to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement for another 16 years, triggering a decade of annual renegotiations that could freeze capital investment across North America and destabilize supply chains built since 2020.
EU-U.S. 2025 trade was more than $2 trillion, according to the European Council — an estimated 30% of global trade and 43% of global GDP. Top goods the U.S. gets from the EU include medicinal and pharmaceutical products, road vehicles and general industrial machinery and equipment. Top exports from the U.S. to the EU are petroleum products, medicinal and pharmaceutical products and power-generating machinery and equipment.
Top services the EU exports to the U.S. are professional, scientific and technical services; telecommunications, computer and information services; and transport. Top services the U.S. exports to the EU are intellectual property licensing charges; professional, scientific and technical services; and telecommunications, computer and information services.
Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs to start on Sept. 8, according to The Hill. A series of U.S. visa cancellations targeting prominent political figures in Mexico sparked the recent comment by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, according to the Los Angeles Times: “I always look for the best relations possible with the United States. Always. … But I’m not going to bow my head, either. It’s not a personal question. It’s a matter of defending the homeland.”
A country with supremacy might have been able to impose its will on others in the past — and still can to some degree. But when the discussion is about important trade partners and no obvious substitutes, the bellowing of top officials starts to sound like bad acting. They can posture all they want but cannot avoid the rebounding wave of consequences.
Unfortunately, the most deeply hit will be those in the middle and lower tiers of the economy and many companies that don’t have multinational seawalls to keep them from tumbling in the results.
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