The United States cannot reindustrialise until it definancialises
Trump’s mass tariffs announced on so-called ‘Liberation Day’ were an aggressive attempt to force global patterns of production to change. This approach was short lived however, as the sky-high tariffs against countries like Vietnam (46%) and Bangladesh (37%) were hastily delayed in favour of a flat 10% tariff. Whilst Trump initially doubled down on his tariffs against China, increasing them to a high of 145%, he has now retreated on these too. Chinese imports into the US will now be subject to a 30% tariff.
Trump’s tariff offensive shocked the world; however, it appeared inspired by an essay written by former financier and current Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Stephen Miran.
In the essay, Miran argues that global imbalances in trade have caused widespread economic issues within the US, namely the decimation of US manufacturing. In response, he outlines a plan to use tariffs as leverage to negotiate a depreciation in the US dollar by convincing trading partners to diversify their reserve holdings away from US dollar denominated assets. He dubs this the ‘Mar-a-Lago Accord’.









The 2025 IMF & World Bank Spring Meetings showed the system is broken.
Our movements are fighting back — stronger, louder, unstoppable.
1. Bretton Woods is Broken: People Demand Justice, Not Austerity