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Beyond all the obvious and already apparent economic damage they have done at home, U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs on steel and aluminum hide an even darker truth: They threaten to undermine broader U.S. strategy in almost every theater by deliberately targeting allies with arbitrary trade restrictions.

It could even get worse, if the Trump administration’s plans for broader, “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every country in the world are next down the pike; those would be particularly problematic for would-be U.S. partners in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as further spoiling relations with Europe. (While those plans are still afoot, they don’t appear to be coming this week.)

Beyond all the obvious and already apparent economic damage they have done at home, U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs on steel and aluminum hide an even darker truth: They threaten to undermine broader U.S. strategy in almost every theater by deliberately targeting allies with arbitrary trade restrictions.

It could even get worse, if the Trump administration’s plans for broader, “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every country in the world are next down the pike; those would be particularly problematic for would-be U.S. partners in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as further spoiling relations with Europe. (While those plans are still afoot, they don’t appear to be coming this week.)

Of course, the Trump administration’s self-defeating moves are not limited to trade. The evisceration of the U.S. Agency for International Development has, as promised, already opened the door to greater Chinese influence in the developing world. The confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard as U.S. intelligence chief will almost certainly limit intelligence sharing by allies. Trump’s plan to seize Gaza

© Foreign Policy