90 Deals in 90 Days?

Trump announced sweeping tariffs on April 2, a 10% baseline on most countries worldwide plus individualized “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of them. The courts have ruled that he overstepped his authority, and as the Trump administration appeals, whether or not these reckless tariffs will be implemented in some form remains to be seen.

But what is certain is that Trump will continue to borrow liberally from the authoritarian playbook, preying on voters’ legitimate concerns and offering up a scapegoat. Yes, our unjust global trading system has harmed workers.¹ But instead of offering real solutions, he blames other countries (and their exploited workers) who supposedly “took advantage” of us. Nothing could be further from the truth.

For decades, the real culprits have been the U.S. corporate giants that rigged the system in their favor through their undue influence in undemocratic, secretive negotiations that led to NAFTA, the WTO, and other so-called free trade deals. The official U.S. trade advisory system gave 500 corporate advisors direct access and influence over the text, while the public and even Congress were locked out.² The result was rules that benefited the profit-making of Wall Street, Big Pharma, and manufacturing and agricultural giants at the expense of working people here and around the world.

Trump’s diagnosis of the problem is wrong, so his solution is too – and will likely lead to even more corporate-dominated deals that harm working people.

Trump bragged that world leaders are “kissing [his] ass” to make deals to avoid tariffs.³ In their filings to the court on the legality of the “emergency” tariffs, Trump officials argued that without these tariff threats, they would not be able to force countries to make these deals.⁴ His plan: Blanket imposition of tariff “pain” to extract concessions, which allows him to treat foreign countries the same way he is treating law firms and universities in the U.S.

But what’s in these deals? Even by the poor transparency standards of past trade policymaking, this level of secrecy is unprecedented. While bragging about potentially “90 deals in 90 days,” the administration has not even disclosed the list of countries they are meeting with, much less the content of the negotiations. Meanwhile, Trump’s own family, Elon Musk, corporate CEOs, billionaire cryptobros, and foreign oligarchs have the President’s ear.

What could go wrong? Without transparency and accountability, we can expect the typical corporate bonanza on steroids plus Trump’s own brand of corruption and grift.

Global Deregulation to Benefit the Biggest Corporations

When Trump announced his global tariffs on so-called “Liberation Day,” he waved around the US Trade Representative’s 2025 National Trade Estimates Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. It’s known as the NTE report, or as Trump calls it, his “special book.” ⁵ This 400-page annual report lists the policies and practices of other countries that U.S. businesses don’t like.

Trade justice advocates have long criticized this report as the U.S. government naming and shaming the policies of sovereign countries with no consideration for the public health, environmental, or other benefits these policies may support. Now, with the threat of massive tariffs, Trump is forcing countries to negotiate and putting this corporate hit list into action.

Below is a snapshot of policies targeted in the report.⁶

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🛰  Big Tech’s Wish List

• Data protection and privacy regulations in Brazil, Norway, and 25 other countries.
• Competition laws to counter the monopolistic practices of Big Tech companies, as employed by the European Union, South Korea, and Japan.
• The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which sets standards for AI use in risky situations, like resume-scanning tools for job applicants.

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💊  Big Pharma’s Wish List

• Patenting standards employed in India, Argentina, and elsewhere to prevent abusive “evergreening” — i.e., when a company makes a tiny change to a drug (like an extended-release version) to justify additional years of high prices protected by patented monopoly control.
• Japan’s and South Korea’s government pricing and reimbursement policies that help contain medicine costs.
• Colombia’s efforts to make a critical HIV/AIDS therapy affordable through compulsory licensing — a right enshrined in international law.

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🌍  Other Public Interest Laws in the Crosshairs

• Canada’s zero plastic waste agenda aiming to reach zero by 2030 by reducing plastic pollution, requiring a minimum recycled content, and restricting single-use plastics.
• Regulations on food safety and pesticides in the UK, EU, and Mexico, among others.
• The EU’s deforestation-free supply chain law to curb deforestation linked to European consumption of beef, coffee, palm oil, and other products.
• Efforts to protect local art and culture from being stamped out by U.S. media, including policies employed by Australia and a dozen other countries that require streaming services to have a certain percentage of content that is locally made.

The bottom line is, the laws of each country should be determined by the people who live there. Strong-arming countries with threats of illegal tariffs to push more corporate-dominated “free trade” agreements will not help U.S. workers and will undermine public welfare around the globe.

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Weaponizing Trade Policy to Benefit Trump and His Billionaire Buddies

In addition to doing large corporations’ bidding, Trump’s secretive trade talks provide ample opportunity for personal financial gain for him and his cronies. Just a few examples:

• Vietnam, facing some of the highest potential Trump tariffs, reportedly ignored its own laws to fast-track approvals for a $1.5 billion Trump golf complex and skyscraper, after a visit by Eric Trump, during the same period as the government was in talks with the administration to avoid the tariffs.⁷
• A Mexican logistics firm trumpeted its purchase of millions of dollars in Trump’s memecoin, explicitly stating its intent to influence Trump’s tariff policy. The CEO stated that the company’s “continued investment into TRUMP puts us at the intersection of finance and advocacy.”⁸
• Trump’s chaotic tariffs gave Elon Musk powerful leverage to push his businesses on foreign governments. In messages obtained by The Washington Post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed U.S. officials to push for permit approvals for Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet service.⁹ Governments, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, South Africa, and many others, have fast-tracked regulatory approvals in the hope of avoiding costly tariffs.¹⁰ In response, dozens of representatives¹¹ have demanded accountability, with U.S. Senators calling for investigations into Musk¹² and the government agencies that may have pressured countries on Musk’s behalf.¹³

Geopolitical Bullying

In his secretive talks, Trump is also using tariffs as a cudgel to bully countries to push his anti-humanitarian, anti-climate, authoritarian agenda globally.

• Canada is expected to be forced to include commitments to increase defense spending, including toward Trump’s controversial “Golden Dome” missile defense idea. ¹⁴
• Trump has repeatedly stated that he expects the EU and other trading partners to accept U.S. oil and gas exports, which would raise energy costs for U.S. consumers and increase fracking and drilling for fossil fuels, contributing to the growing climate catastrophe.¹⁵
• Trump used tariff threats to demand that Mexico further militarize its border ¹⁶ and that Colombia accept deportees transported under inhumane conditions. ¹⁷

Conclusion

Decades of past failed, corporate-dominated trade deals have perpetuated a race to the bottom and increased income inequality.

But Trump’s tariffs aren’t going to restore American industry, revitalize the middle class, or stabilize our economy. That’s not his goal. Trump is using tariffs to push more corporate-dominated (and likely corrupt) deals that will harm the workers he claims to be protecting.

We need big changes to fix the past trade policies, but Trump’s approach to trade is a con on working people, a con that deepens his move toward corrupt authoritarianism and entrenches oligarchy.

Take action now: Demand transparency!