Brent is a senior fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology at The Heritage Foundation. U.S. President Joe Biden holds a semiconductor during his remarks before signing an Executive Order on the economy on February 24, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Doug Mills / Pool / Getty Images
Key Takeaways
Today the United States relies on other foreign-sourced strategic materials that will have to be secured in times of crisis or conflict.
Failure to manage the supply of these critical components can bring an entire industry to a standstill as is playing out today in the auto industry.
While the U.S. government has come to realize in recent years the danger posed to the defense supply chain, more is needed.
National Security Should No Longer Be a Defense for Protectionism SHARE
While President Trump is no longer in office, his trade policy legacy lingers in Washington. His tariffs’ continued presence has not only been a disappointment to our allies who thought that a change in administration would usher in a new, less zero-sum view of trade, but also a continuous economic burden on the American people, who are still struggling amidst a global pandemic. Indeed, as we noted here a few weeks ago, Trump’s steel tariffs are threatening the nascent U.S. manufacturing recovery.
Though Trump imposed and championed the tariffs, responsibility also falls on the U.S. laws that let him get away with it. The biggest offender in this regard is Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which authorizes the president to take actions, such as imposing tariffs, against imports deemed to be a threat to “national security.” In 2017, the Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariff
The U.S. government has been trying to secure strategic materials by categorizing them as protected from foreign predatory practices, expanding domestic production, and strategic stockpiling.
Okonjo-Iweala takes charge at WTO amid vaccine debate
With help from Steven Overly
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Quick Fix
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala takes the reins of the WTO today, becoming both the first woman and first African to lead the increasingly troubled group. USTR could flesh out more details of the Biden administration’s “worker-centered” trade policy today when it releases the annual President’s Trade Agenda report.