Rogue hegemons are sabotaging the global economy View(s):By Arvind Subramanian, PROJECT SYNDICATE, EXCLUSIVE TO THE SUNDAY TIMES IN SRI LANKAWASHINGTON, DC – Although 2025 will probably be remembered as the year that US President Donald Trump upended the global trading system, the truth is that both of the world’s hegemons, the United States and China, have gone rogue. Surging US protectionism and resurgent Chinese mercantilism are now twin scourges afflicting the rest of the world, especially developing countries. Instead of providing global public goods, China and the US are inflicting global economic costs, and they are doing so in mutually reinforcing ways. In some sense, Chinese mercantilism begat US protectionism. But there have also been indirect effects, and chief among these is Chinese mercantilism.

Source: Sunday Times December 28, 2025 19:33 UTC