FROM THE OUTSIDE | A new era?

Por

José Carreño Figueras

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Publicado: 4/4/2025 · 6:11 p.m. MX | Actualizado: 4/4/2025 · 6:11 p.m. MX

If it were any smaller country, President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs announced on Wednesday would be seen as economic suicide. For many, this is the American version of Brexit—the vote that led the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in 2016, which has since hurt its economy and society.

In the case of the United States — the world’s economic and military hegemon — this move represents what some see as the end of an era, the end of the “Pax Americana.”

“We can’t overstate what just happened. Donald Trump needed only 71 days to wreck the U.S. economy, mortally wound NATO, and dismantle the U.S.-led world order,” wrote Jonathan B. Last, editor of the conservative online publication The Bulwark — himself about as left-leaning as Trump is modest.

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Last didn’t make excuses: Trump acted “with the enthusiastic support of the entire Republican Party and the conservative movement” and with the backing of a plurality (49.1 percent) of American voters.

“He didn’t hide his intentions,” Last recalled. “He campaigned on them. He made them the centerpiece of his platform. He told Americans he would betray our allies and abandon our global leadership role.”

Trump didn’t act in a vacuum. There’s a segment of the U.S. population that genuinely believes, as he said, that the world has taken advantage of them — that trade deficits are subsidies, that immigration is harmful (especially when it doesn’t match certain racial or cultural traits), and that lost industries from decades ago can be brought back.

Over the last 80 years — since the end of World War II — the U.S. has been “the indispensable nation,” the engine of the global economy, a guarantor of an imperfect but functional international legal system, and a sometimes hesitant champion of democratic ideals, the rule of law, civil and human rights, and even environmental causes.

But President Trump’s actions — his approach to Ukraine, which at times seems like a tacit agreement to divide the country with Russia; his open frustration over what he sees as NATO countries’ insufficient military spending; his bizarre desire to acquire Greenland or turn Canada into the 51st state; the global trade war he ignited; and his domestic measures against anything related to racial, cultural, or sexual tolerance — all amount to a brutal offensive.

“The 80-year period in which the United States led the global economy — forged alliances built on trust and mutual respect, and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services — is over.

“And while that is a tragedy, it is also the new reality,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

And many believe the United States is the one that lost.

José Carreño Figueras