From Elite Taxation to Trade Wars: Tax Geopolitics and the Concealment of Global Inequality

This article offers a critical analysis of international tax policies, considering their effectiveness in promoting fiscal justice and equitable wealth distribution. Historically rooted in narratives of economic competitiveness and investment attraction, such policies have often overlooked distributive imperatives, operating instead as mechanisms for preserving privilege and obstructing structural reform. Through a qualitative, document-based methodological approach, the study explores how regressive tax systems, resistance to wealth taxation, and the construction of narratives on international “trade injustices” comprise a fiscal architecture that legitimizes inequality. Special attention is given to the geopolitical context of 2024-2025, marked by a global initiative, led by Brazil during its G20 presidency, to advance the debate on taxing the ultra-rich and the simultaneous adoption of protectionist tariffs by the United States under Donald Trump. The analysis suggests that these narratives serve domestic political consolidation by diverting attention from internal inequality. The article concludes by underscoring the urgency of reconfiguring global tax governance to reclaim taxation as a tool for social justice and international solidarity.