For much of this year, a single phrase has defined the Trump Administration’s approach to global trade: “We hold all the cards.” This mantra, repeated in negotiations from Brussels to Tokyo, was built on a simple, powerful premise: that the world’s dependence on America’s vast consumer market grants Washington unparalleled leverage. The administration has not been shy about exploiting this leverage, securing concessions on everything from agricultural products to industrial tariffs, often leaving trading partners feeling strong-armed into deals that primarily serve American interests.

Having successfully flexed its muscle in the tangible world of goods and services, the White House is now applying this same hard-nosed logic to the intangible, yet infinitely more strategic, realm of artificial intelligence. In a move that is as ambitious as it is confrontational, the administration has unveiled a formal strategy to ensure global dependence not on American consumers, but on American code. This new doctrine, outlined in recent White House directives, is an audacious bid to make the “American AI Stack” the indispensable foundation of the 21st-century global economy, locking in technological dominance for a generation. For policymakers and corporate leaders around the world, this presents a profound and urgent dilemma.

Read the full piece on I by IMD: https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/geopolitics/americas-audacious-ai-export-move/