Everybody expected Trump’s obsession with tariffs to rattle international financial markets, no doubt, yet few figured it would quickly trigger debate that tariff wars, now inevitable, will possibly fracturing America’s traditional political/financial partnerships and even accelerate the decline of western dominance as we know it.

That’s exactly what’s happening.

History has shown that the world’s leading economic power tends to dictate global trade rules. For decades, that power has been the United States.

But now Trump’s erratic trade policies are undermining the very system that ensured western supremacy. He views trade as a zero-sum game, where America’s gain must come at another country’s loss.

This thinking is not just economically flawed; it is geopolitically dangerous.

Trump’s tariffs are already generating economic blowback. A 25pc blanket tariff on steel and aluminum imports, due to take effect next month, is not just a tax on foreign suppliers — it is a tax on American businesses and consumers.

Now it’s only natural for industries that rely on imported metals, from automakers to construction firms, to feel the sting of rising costs. And you can count on retaliatory........

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