Tariffs as Signaling: A Strategic Communication Framework in the Trump Era

This study examines how tariffs were used as instruments of strategic communication under the presidency of Donald Trump and examines more closely the rhetorical and symbolic use of tariffs in the discourse of trade policy. Limited to economic motivations of safeguarding domestic industries and correcting trade imbalances, tariffs have conventionally been used for economic aims. With this research looking at how tariffs were used in the administration of Trump for projecting political intent, expressing national strength, and recruiting the public mood. This research examines speeches, tweets and official documents looking for recurring themes such as Populist Framing, Costly Signals in Strategic Bargaining, Strategic Language Use, and Predictions and Prepositions based on Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The time frame includes President Trump’s first term i.e. 2017 to 2021 and the ongoing current term respectively. The study synthesizes theoretical frameworks of game theory, public choice theory and behavioral institution led to conceptualizing how tariffs served as both economic instruments and communicational acts. Research revealed that in Trump’s discourse, tariffs were portrayed as moral and patriotic compulsions that were rewritten as symbols of sovereignty and resistance against felt foreign exploitation. Nevertheless, although a rhetorically viable tact, it frequently had negative economic repercussions such as increased consumer spending and retaliation by foreign entities and reduced international confidence. The analysis points to the more general consequences of politicizing trade policy and the changing role of strategic language in this area of global economic relations.