Leaked documents reveal hidden agenda behind Trump tariff demands
President Donald Trump’s tariff policy has been described by the president as a tool to address the United States’ trade deficits with countries the world over, however, according to leaked government documents obtained by The Washington Post, the policy had a series of other high-priority objectives that has left experts shocked.
As reported by The Washington Post Saturday, the internal government documents reveal pages of “supplemental negotiating objectives,” among which include using tariffs to pressure countries to offer concessions for companies like the oil giant Chevron or Elon Musk’s Starlink.
“This is the first time I’ve seen that type of request in a trade agreement,” said Wendy Cutler, an American diplomat who spent nearly 30 years as a negotiator with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, speaking with The Washington Post. “When you’re sitting at the negotiating table, you’re not talking about this stuff.”
One portion of the leaked documents detail efforts to pressure the African nation of Lesotho – threatened by Trump with a 50% tariff rate – to grant the renewable energy company OnePower a “five-year withholding tax exemption” for it to develop an energy grid development project.
Other secret objectives of Trump’s trade policy according to the documents include pressuring countries on China’s border to develop stronger military ties with the United States, matters involving foreign United States Military bases, and perhaps one that has become more well-known: pressuring India to halt its purchases of Russian oil.
The supplemental objectives of Trump’s tariff policy, one employee of the State Department said, sent “shockwaves through the government.”
“The document sent shock waves through the government,” the employee said, speaking with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. “This isn’t normally how it works.”
A significant share of the hidden objectives behind Trump’s tariffs were centered around combating China and Chinese influence across the globe. The leaked documents show one such objective was to pressure Cambodia using tariffs to prohibit Chinese military deployments near its Ream Naval Base, and another, to pressure Israel to “remove Chinese port ownership” in the country’s port city of Haifa.