Covfefe Chronicles: Trump’s Tariff War Is Economic Racism, Disguised As ‘Fair Trade’

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Donald Trump’s tariff blitz is more than an economic policy. It’s a racial one, with the weight of U.S. policy pressing hardest on Black and brown nations.  And it’s a calculated play in America’s centuries-old racial hierarchy.

Since early August, the U.S. has slapped “reciprocal” tariffs on more than 60 countries. Some tallies put the number closer to 69, plus the entire European Union. The rates are steep: 10% to 41% on a wide range of imports, with outliers like India and Brazil hit at 50%, Canada at 35%, and Switzerland at 39%.

Mainstream headlines frame the moves as a crackdown on “unfair trade practices.” But a closer look at the list of targeted nations reveals a racial pattern the White House won’t acknowledge, and that much of the press refuses to name.

The vast majority of countries facing these tariffs are in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. These are nations that are majority Black and brown, many with colonial pasts and long histories of economic dependence shaped by Western intervention. This is not a colorblind policy. It’s an economic offensive that functions as a 21st-century form of racial control: punishing Global South nations that assert independence, destabilizing their economies, and reinforcing a global hierarchy with white-majority nations at the top. The “reciprocal” label may sound fair, but the economic impact is anything but.

The administration insists the tariffs “level the playing field” by penalizing trade partners that don’t mirror U.S. policies or that give their exporters an advantage. But according to trade analysts, the choice of targets reveals other motives. Countries cultivating deeper economic ties with China, reclaiming control over natural resources, or resisting U.S. foreign policy directives are among the hardest hit. Tariffs become a financial leash, disciplining without deploying troops.

The economic damage to emerging markets is significant. Higher duties mean higher prices, slower growth, and increased inflation, all of which make it harder for developing nations to compete globally. The gap between white-majority economies and everyone else stays intact. This is colonialism enforced by spreadsheet. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to import labor, minerals, and cheap goods from these countries, even as it casts them as “unfair traders.”

A handful of white-majority countries like Norway, Switzerland, and Canada have been hit with tariffs, but this doesn’t erase the racial targeting. Those nations have leverage to negotiate carve-outs and exemptions; countries like Namibia or Bangladesh do not. The harshest penalties fall on nations least equipped to fight back. This is a dynamic mirrored in domestic racial disparities in policing and prosecution.

For Trump, the political value is twofold. First, the tariffs offer a symbolic show of strength to a nationalist base, reinforcing the idea that America is “taking back control.” Second, they provide a convenient scapegoat when inflation rises or jobs disappear. Blame can be shifted to “foreign threats,” especially those from Black and brown countries, rather than corporate greed or flawed domestic policy.

If the tariffs succeed in preserving the racial and economic status quo, they will also validate a broader principle of U.S. power: that growth is only a threat when it’s not white, and that formerly colonized nations must be kept in check. It’s colonization updated for the balance sheet era. And unless the press stops treating this as just another trade dispute, the deeper story will remain buried beneath the headlines.

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