By: AISRS Editorial Team
The imposition of U.S. tariffs on both friendly and rival nations alike represents a new and significant chapter in global economic history. Traditionally, the United States has enjoyed good economic relations with friends and allies, conducting international trade through free-market economics. This current innovation of U.S. trade policy, which attempts to impose tariffs virtually unilaterally, is new. Even though the action may yield short-term economic gains or damage control, its long-term implications could reshape the global economic order. A number of countries will begin building mechanisms that bypass the United States entirely, which will bring the U.S.'s unipolar moment in international affairs to an end.
One of the sure signs of this shift is the changing geopolitical landscape, particularly in Eastern Europe. The U.S. has withdrawn from the conflict in Ukraine successfully, leaving its allies to fend for themselves. The withdrawal is widely regarded as an unstated concession of strategic defeat, which further erodes U.S. credibility as a global leader. It illustrates the erosion of U.S. influence not only militarily but also diplomatically and in alliance-making.
Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is badly suffering. As of February 2025, the total federal debt has increased to more than $36 trillion, of which $28.5 trillion is public debt. This raises the national debt to a record $107,227 per citizen of the U.S. This kind of fiscal uncertainty has prompted the U.S. government to take bold economic measures like applying tariffs on imported goods from almost all countries. Though framed as steps to firm up the economy, these policies are an existential desperation to mitigate impending fiscal collapse and prevent prospective bankruptcy.
There appears to be the logic here that, in the short-term painfulness of these tariffs, they can potentially help the U.S. build some economic capital in the longer term. This strategy is precarious. The short-term impact is clear: foreign goods are more expensive, weighing on already stretched-out American consumers fighting inflation and a lack of increasing wages. The American government insists this is a temporary sacrifice, but most economists don't agree, saying that this could have lasting negative effects.
In fact, the long-term effects can prove to be a lot more deleterious than the government hopes. Higher consumer prices can cause reduced consumption and economic stagnation. More importantly, countries everywhere are already beginning to seek alternative trade corridors and economic paradigms that don't rely on the United States. This is most likely going to develop regional integration and new trade blocs that center around mutual advantage over unilateral hegemony.
These trends provide rich soil for American rivals such as China and Russia to challenge the current global economic order. One of the central platforms for this challenge is BRICS, the association of emerging economies created by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. BRICS is increasingly viewed as a possible counterbalance to Western economic institutions. The bloc is already making efforts at developing a substitute for the SWIFT banking system and offering a new world currency. Successful completion of such projects would significantly undermine U.S. dollar supremacy—and hence, U.S. economic superiority.
Russia has already stood firm against U.S. military and economic brinkmanship. In Ukraine's war, Russia has managed to hold on to what it has, and the conflict appears to be ending on Moscow terms. From an economic point of view, China has turned out to be the strongest thorn against U.S. tariffs. China, in reprisal, has imposed counter-tariffs up to 125% against American goods, which indicates its defiance at being economically bullied. Rather than stepping back, China is at the forefront of efforts to deepen economic ties across the Global South and project itself as a champion of equitable global development.
While the U.S. has even terrifed economically distressed countries, China has so far exempted the poorest of the poor nations from its own tit-for-tat tariffs. China’s Zero Tariff policy for Afghanistan and poor countries in Africa, is symbolic of economic support to developing countries. That diplomatic magnanimity has endeared it to the bulk of the Global South. While the U.S. has angered even its best allies—nations that assisted it in underwriting many interventions at considerable expense—it has terrifed them as well.
As a result, a fresh world economic machinery is likely to be born, rooted in the Global South and backed by rising powers. Traditional American allies disillusioned with Washington's mercurial and unilateral policies may have no choice but to fall in line behind the new institutions. The appeal of a more multipolar and expansive economic system could prove too hard to resist.
In general, the era of U.S. unchallenged economic supremacy is ending. The multipolar world that most analysts have predicted for decades is no longer something that one day might be the case—it's the world now. This new world order is not merely a military or diplomatic shift but a fundamental economic transformation. As the U.S. clings to traditional methods, the rest of the world is forging ahead, building a new international architecture that could one day place the U.S. on the sidelines of the very system it used to dominate.