A FAUSTIAN BARGAIN

FOCUS TRADE

- Jayati Ghosh

US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have unleashed global economic turmoil and a wave of protectionist measures. While many of his frequently changing tariffs may prove short-lived, their use as geopolitical weapons is poised to reshape international trade for years to come.

But the current fixation on Trump’s tariffs diverts attention from the larger goal: the United States is leveraging its economic power to push for market liberalisation and preferential access for American firms, often at the expense of lower-income countries’ development prospects.

Today’s US-China standoff is a prime example. America’s hostile posture toward China ~ maintained under both Trump and former President Joe Biden — has never been just about trade. Rather, it reflects a strategic ambition to preserve US technological dominance by preventing China from catching up in key sectors.

That effort has since become part of a broader campaign to restrict access to advanced technologies across the developing world. The primary tool for achieving this goal has been the imposition of increasingly restrictive intellectual property (IP) rules that aim to privatise knowledge through patents, copyrights, and industrial designs.