With an ideology centered on “America First,” Republican U.S. President Donald Trump has been challenging some of America’s major trade allies, including Canada, Mexico, the EU, and others. “It’s going to be very costly for people to take advantage of this country,” Trump said repeatedly. “They can’t come in and steal our money, steal our jobs, take our factories and businesses, and expect not to be punished.”

The backlash among global consumers and businesses has been significant. Within 72 hours after issuing universal tariffs on April 2, #BoycottUSA and #BoycottUSAProducts surfaced on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Meanwhile, CNN reported EU social media groups, particularly on Facebook, started calling for a boycott of U.S.-made goods. Shops in Canada removed American products from shelves, replacing them with “Buy Canadian Instead” signs. 

Trump’s rhetoric also has been blamed for declining inbound tourism. “Tourism Economics said it expects the number of people arriving in the US from abroad to decline by 9.4% this year,” Dee-Ann Durbin, an AP business reporter, wrote in April. “That’s almost twice the 5% drop the company forecasted at the end of February. At the beginning of the year, Tourism Economics predicted a booming year for international travel to the U.S., with visits up 9% from 2024.”

Those developments could have deep and lasting impact. “Trump’s policies and political approach, both domestically and abroad, have contributed to a decline in global perceptions of American leadership, potentially affecting the US soft power,” Brand Finance, a UK consultancy, Chairman David Haigh noted. That could upend the international leadership role the United States has filled since 1945.

Soft power

The phrase “soft power” was coined by Joseph Nye, a former US assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, in his 1990 book “Bound to Lead.” Nye said soft power is the ability of a country to influence others through non-coercive means, particularly cultural appeal, political values, and diplomatic engagement. It is the opposite of hard power, which relies on military and economic force.

Since the late 20th century, the United States has been the embodiment of soft power, from Hollywood’s global reach to tech innovations emerging from Silicon Valley.This is most evident with the emergence of “The American Dream” idea, coined in 1931. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.”

The phrase was repurposed by each generation until the Cold War ended in 1991, when it represented a consumer capitalist version of democracy. “Our ideas about the ‘American Dream’ froze in the 1950s,” Sarah Churchwell told Smithsonian magazine in 2018.

Hollywood and food

According to a 2023 paper from Brazil’s University of São Paulo, the US used Hollywood during World War II and the Cold War to export American values globally. The Office of Wartime Information, for instance, leveraged Hollywood films as propaganda tools, helping to counter communist ideologies.

The proliferation of films boosted the international popularity of U.S. food brands. “In today’s world, America’s soft power is commonly thought to reside in the global popularity of Hollywood movies, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Starbucks,” Ahmed Zewail, a 1999 Nobel Prize winner, told the Los Angeles Times in 2010.

US-originating foods, like burgers, fries and doughnuts, are also part of the US soft power. “As both soft power and food’s symbolisms are socially generated, this enables food to be utilised as soft power,” wrote Christian Reynolds in his paper in 2012.

Further spreading US gastronomy worldwide is with “more than 400 years of immigrant history, America has become not just the richest gastronomy in the world — one that ravenously accepts other food cultures while influencing them in return — but one in which all those who accepted the challenge to come here contributed to and enjoyed,” John Mariani, a career food critic, writer and co-author of 15 food books, wrote in a 2020 Forbes.

Aid, education

Providing humanitarian aid has been another key to America’s soft power, primarily through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). “For decades, the US has been the largest absolute provider of development aid, funding  25% to 30% of the world’s total official development assistance) since 2003,” Karen Mathiasen and Nico Martinez wrote in the Center for Global Development in March. 

US soft power also extends to education. Cultural exchange initiatives such as the Fulbright Program, Humphrey Fellowship, and American Field Service (AFS) promote American values and foster international relations. The Harvard International Review in 2021 said these programs provide students and scholars worldwide with opportunities to study, teach, and research in the United States.

The British Council Soft Power Report said the Fulbright Act aimed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” It also cited the creation of the US Peace Corps by President John F. Kennedy, which continues to send American volunteers abroad to assist in development projects and promote democracy and goodwill.

Soft power shift

Over the past few years, U.S. soft power has been in decline. “For the third consecutive year, there has been a decrease in perceptions of political stability and good governance. Other crucial attributes have declined, including high ethical standards and low corruption, generosity, trustworthiness, and being safe and secure,” according to Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index 2025 report

Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, and other countries marked a significant shift in U.S. trade policy, threatening key relationships. 

At press time, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all nations until early July, except for China, whose products would be charged 145% to enter the US.. Trump “declared that foreign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency, and his order imposes responsive tariffs to strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers,” according to the White House statement.

In February, Trump also shut down USAID operations worldwide, a move indicating the end of goodwill development aid. That will be significant as, despite USAID and other foreign aid, making up a small fraction of the overall U.S. budget, they frequently represented the forefront of US soft power, Joshua Kurlantzick wrote on the Council on Foreign Relations website in February.

That decline means jeopardizing thousands of humanitarian projects, which had been vital for promoting American goodwill and foreign policy interests. “The decision to freeze international aid will likely cause ‘blowback’ for the world’s largest economy,” stated Ghana President John Mahama, according to Bloomberg in February.

That is changing the global leadership landscape. “Instead of regaining U.S. dominance, there is a significant possibility that his actions will further accelerate the decline of American global influence, both in the economy and in other realms,” wrote Nicholas Mulder in Foreign Affairs magazine in March. 

Outlook

“The global economy will massively suffer, uncertainty will spiral, and trigger the rise of further protectionism,” according to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission in a statement published by the European Commission in April. “The cost of doing business with the United States will drastically increase.”

This move toward new economic partnerships is part of a broader shift in international dynamics, as some countries are looking to reduce their reliance on the United States. ”For many U.S. allies, a smaller presence in the U.S. market has ceased to be an economically existential threat,” said Mulder. “As Trump ratchets up the pressure on them, they may eventually decide that the loss of cheap access to North America is not something worth avoiding at any cost.”

This article first appeared in May’s print edition of Business Monthly.