Trump, Tariffs and LGBT Rights: A Curious International Convergence

Roger-Luc Chayer (Photo: AP / Euronews)

Two features of Donald Trump’s return to the White House invite comparison: an administration that has made LGBT rights, especially the rights of trans people, a political target, and a tariff policy that places additional charges on several countries known for being comparatively open to LGBT communities. The relationship between those two policies may be coincidental. The pattern, however, is difficult to overlook.

What the comparison shows

To examine the two dimensions together, I used the Equaldex LGBT Equality Index 2026, which combines legal rights with public opinion, and the schedule of additional U.S. tariffs currently in effect.

Important: the percentage shown is the general additional tariff by country, where one exists. It does not necessarily indicate the total customs duty charged on every product. Depending on the sector, additional tariffs of 25%, 50%, or 100% may also apply.

The 10 countries most favorable to LGBTQ+ people

Equaldex published these rankings and scores in 2026. The tariff figures come from the U.S. tariff-tracking table verified on September 10, 2026.

The 10 countries least favorable to LGBTQ+ people

Equaldex ranks Somalia last, with a score of 0. It is followed by Afghanistan, Oman, Brunei, Gambia, Senegal, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, and the Maldives.

The figures do not produce a simple explanation for U.S. trade decisions, but they do reveal an unexpected contrast. Of the 10 countries most favorable to LGBTQ+ people, six carry a general additional tariff of 10% to 12.5%, two have no general tariff, and the remaining countries are also affected by different trade measures according to the products concerned.

Among the 10 most repressive countries, seven have no general additional tariff, while three have a rate of 12.5%.

That distribution raises the question of whether the coincidence is really a coincidence. It also brings attention to the intolerance displayed by the U.S. President toward gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and, more particularly, trans people.

The trade rules behind Trump’s tariff policy

Trump’s stated “pretext” is not necessarily one specific offense by each targeted country. Instead, the administration makes extensive use of different U.S. trade laws, allowing disputes to be presented as unfair trade practices, discrimination against the United States, or threats to national security.

This approach has placed international economic rules under unusual pressure. Agreements appear useful when they advance Washington’s interests, but less binding when the President decides to impose a tariff. Even arrangements normally intended to prevent such action have apparently been unable to restrain his enthusiasm for tariffs. Canada has experienced this, as have many other nations.

Free trade, in this context, seems to have become a tradition invoked mainly when abandoning it is not politically or commercially inconvenient. The rules remain in place, but their authority appears to last only until the President no longer finds them useful.

A political hostility turned into policy

The assessment of Trump’s intolerance toward LGBT realities cannot rest only on controversial remarks. The clearest indication is found in the policies adopted by his administration since his return to the White House.

Trans people have become one of the administration’s principal targets. The measures include challenges to the recognition of gender identity, restrictions involving gender-affirming care, actions directed at trans athletes, and the withdrawal of certain government protections previously granted to LGBTQ+ people.

These measures form part of a wider political strategy. Trump has made opposition to what he calls gender ideology and progressive ideology a central element of his culture war. LGBT people, and trans people in particular, have become a convenient symbol of what his movement presents as the excesses of progressivism.

A distinction remains important: there is no serious evidence that Donald Trump personally experiences the same degree of hostility toward every part of the LGBT community. The decisions of his administration do, however, clearly document a political orientation that is far more hostile to LGBT rights and demands, especially regarding trans people.

Seen beside the tariff figures, the contrast is striking: an administration that openly attacks several social advances defended by LGBT communities is also applying trade measures to a number of countries that rank among the world’s most progressive on LGBT rights.

Perhaps this is coincidence. Yet under Donald Trump, coincidences in American politics are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

The international consequences

The implications extend beyond the United States. By changing policies affecting LGBT people, particularly trans people, Donald Trump is not only altering American rules. He is helping normalize a political vision in which acquired rights may be challenged, minorities may be turned into electoral targets, and executive orders may erase recognition of certain social realities.

That may be the greatest danger. When the United States rolls back protections for LGBT people, questions the recognition of trans people, and depicts the demands of these communities as a threat to society, its message reaches beyond its own electorate. It can supply arguments—and sometimes political permission—to leaders elsewhere who want to pursue a similar course.

The United States has long presented itself as a defender of individual freedoms and human rights. When its President instead makes certain minorities political targets, he contributes to the normalization of a retreat that other governments may be tempted to imitate.

The danger is therefore not limited to what is happening to LGBT people in the United States. It also lies in the possibility that other countries will look toward Washington and ask: if the United States can turn back the clock, why can’t we?

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