THE threats of 100% tariffs against China and other countries contemplating de-dollarisation and hellfire against Hamas by president-elect Donald Trump are all signs of US imperialism flailing in its death throes.
Tariffs and sanctions can be considered unfair trade because they can have unintended negative consequences, such as higher prices, reduced competition, and they make domestic industries less efficient.
Usually, it is poorer countries that choose to retain higher trade barriers to nurture their domestic industries. The US trade war with China has upset global markets, which have risen and fallen at each new development.
In contrast, China has decided to give all the least developed countries, with which it has diplomatic relations, zero-tariff treatment for 100% tariff lines starting from Dec 1, becoming the first large developing country and major economy to announce such a policy. This under-scores the country’s commitment to a win-win cooperation, providing new opportunities for the world through its development.
Liberal democracy mirage
During the Cold war, my lecturer in Government 101 used to pontificate that Western liberal democracy was the epitome of fair play and cricket, thumbing his nose at the Communist world and scoffing, “It is like cheating at chess!” Much later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the ideologues for the West even proclaimed “the end of history”.
Well, things have not turned
out that way, and history, as a German philosopher of dialectical materialism put it, is a continual history of class struggles.
Meanwhile, the circus around elections as we saw in the US has affirmed in no uncertain terms that liberal democracy changes nothing of substance for the working class.
The liberal democratic mirage continues to be peddled by a compliant media, politicians and academics. Behind the veil, we have witnessed in the last year the brutal reality and unspeakable cruelty of the Gaza genocide by the Israeli regime and the complicity of the West.
In recent years, the US’s invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan has only sounded the death knell of US imperialism when it exposed the fakery that was used to invade and occupy these countries, and provoked armed and determined resistance by the occupied people.
The historic pronouncements by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court condemning Israel for its genocidal war in Gaza have further delegitimised the US foreign policy, especially its complicity in the Gaza genocide.
As in Vietnam, the mirage of liberal democracy evaporated in Baghdad and Kabul, and continues to besmudge the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the sprawling 800 plus military bases of the US all round the globe and the military fiascos they have endured in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East have bled the empire economically.
Since the end of the Second World War, the US government has spent much of its revenue on its military operations. The annual military budget of the US is nearly US$1 trillion (RM4.42 trillion), driving the US national debt to over US$31 trillion, nearly US$5 trillion more than the US’s entire gross domestic product.
According to journalist Chris Hedges, “Israel has received US$158 billion in bilateral assistance from the US since 1949, almost all of it since 1971 in the form of military aid, with most of it going towards arms purchases from American weapons manufacturers.”
This pandering to the military industrial complex has diverted funds from social and infrastructure programmes as well as renewable energy technologies.
The American people, especially the working class, are the ones who suffer from this neglect of housing, social and welfare concerns, making them susceptible to fascist rants by demagogues.
By contrast to the US’s militarist expenditure, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the world’s largest infrastructure finance programme.
It has funded roads, ports and other projects around the world, and has expanded China’s influence. Launched in September 2013, it is at the centre of Chinese foreign policy.
BRI includes a web of investment programmes that seek to develop infrastructure and promote economic integration within partner countries. It is designed for the mutual benefit of China and participating countries, and seeks to promote multipolarity, economic globalisation and cultural diversification. As of December 2021, 145 countries are part of the initiative.
China is Africa’s largest trading partner and the second largest for Latin America and the Caribbean. Many Global South states vote alongside China in multilateral bodies.
Apart from the need for resources, Latin America is a potential market for China to export mechanical, electrical and high-tech products.
However, China’s relationship with Latin America goes beyond mere commercial engagement to increased cooperation in the political and cultural realms, economics, sciences and technology.
Thus, while liberal democracies are eternally caught up in their four-yearly agendas until the next general election, China stays constant to its long-term national goals of poverty alleviation, sustainable development and socialist ideals.
Towards a multipolar world
In recent years, we have witnessed a multipolar world emerging, marking a departure from the unipolar system dominated by US imperialism right up to the turn of the millennium.
The formation of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2011) heralded a new influence within the global economy. It offers an alternative within the prevailing global framework, which was dominated by the developed economies of the Global North.
BRICS reflects a commitment to inclusive participation in the international arena, where each member’s voice can be heard, and where diversity, autonomy and multipolarity are celebrated.
From the original five members, BRICS has now expanded to 11 members, with Argentina from Latin America, Egypt and Ethiopia from Africa; Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates from the Middle East. Malaysia is the latest country to join.
BRICS+ countries now command a significant share, 40% of the
world’s oil reserves and 53% of global gas reserves.
The demand for multipolarity by BRICS countries has led to the yearning for dedollarisation. Up until today, the overwhelming dominance of the US dollar in international trade, followed by the euro, has tended to favour developed nations with stronger currencies.
Recognising this, BRICS
nations started discussions aimed
at dedollarising intra-BRICS transactions. This move aligns with the broader aim of enhancing financial autonomy and equity within the BRICS community.
The relative decline in US manufacturing and even services competitiveness with Europe, then Japan and East Asia and now China, has gradually worn away the strength of the US dollar against other currencies.
The US president-elect may issue all the threats he wants but he is better advised to demilitarise and neutralise the effects of US imperialism.
Kua Kia Soong is a former MP and director of Suaram. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
