Breaking down the latest strategy by globalist corporations attempting to thwart America First policies

Six months into Trump’s administration, transnational corporations, particularly major retailers, are continuing their efforts to undermine President Trump’s America First economic policies. 

On a policy level, Trump’s rise was largely due to his trade policies that prioritize America First over conventional free trade policies. These free trade policies greatly benefited transnational corporations, allowing them to source different products from across the globe, often at the cost of American jobs. The rise of Trump was fueled by blue-collar workers in states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio.  

Back in 2015, Trump made headlines opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership during the campaign and scuttled the deal. North Carolina’s manufacturing sector suffered greatly from NAFTA, but Trump’s message about returning American manufacturing resonated in the Tar Heel state, especially with the passage of USMCA. In 2024, the Trump campaign called for changing the trade balance, to the dismay of Wall Street types. The clearest example was during Trump’s sit-down interview with Bloomberg.  

The American people sided with Trump on trade, but transnational corporations, particularly big retail chains, oppose an America First trade policy because it would alter the way they do business. For example, the main special interest group for big retailers, the National Retail Federation, put out a statement this April warning about the dangers of tariffs, predicting calamity for Americans.  

But since then, President Trump has negotiated numerous trade deals, including deals with England, Vietnam, and several other countries, and is continuing to negotiate deals with the United States. One particularly challenging group is BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), a group of countries that aims to form an economic alliance to directly compete with the United States, potentially unseating the United States as the world's economic leader if successful. Trump is addressing trade issues with BRICS and recently threatened an additional tariff.  

All these trade negotiations are ongoing, and they are something the American people voted for when they chose Donald Trump. Corporate America will face a choice: adjust to America First policies or resist them. 

North Carolina-based Lowe’s is providing an example of what not to do. Instead of joining their competitor in committing not to raise prices, Lowe’s said it “was not ruling out price hike”. This move will create the appearance of opposing America First trade policies that the people voted for.  Lowe’s was one of the last major companies to ditch its DEI policies, and its Open Secrets profile shows that a majority of donations go to Democrats. 

For months, transnational corporations and their allies have been warning about the potential negative impact of tariffs. So far, none of those have happened. The stock market reached record highs. Gas prices continue to drop, and inflation is at a record low.   

Companies like Lowe’s run the risk of being on the wrong side of these political issues as trade negotiations continue if they raise prices for a political point in an attempt to sway public perception. 

Republican state legislators may take action to support President Trump’s agenda. Both Senate Leader Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall regularly explain how their state-level policies promote an America First vision. In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin recently signed legislation requiring greater price transparency for consumers. This legislation may prove embarrassing for companies that artificially raise prices to thwart the America First trade policies and may become mainstream if state level Republicans see it as an opportunity to support President Trump’s agenda.