Embedded in the US’ national security strategy, this reorientation leaves little scope for a full rollback and turns global trade into a test of power: of whether World Trade Organization (WTO) rules still bind or leverage now sets the terms. For decades, globalisation dominated international trade through market interdependence regulated by multilateral institutions like the WTO. AdvertisementThe US is not abandoning WTO rules. Instead, it is orchestrating a far bolder strategy, letting power politics override discipline and opening legal grey zones that unleash uncertainty. Steel and aluminium tariffs under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act invoked national security exceptions, prompting warnings from other WTO members that expansive use of security carve-outs could hollow out core obligations.