Under Trump and Biden has the US Become a Protectionist and National Security Trading State?

Abstract

[enter Abstract: Geopolitical risk is now among the most important factors in the formulation of multinational corporate strategy and US trade policy. This is most clearly seen in US-China trade relations. The US has aggressively enacted national-security-based trade sanctions, which recently include export controls on semiconductor chips and restrictions on outbound and inbound investment. The US has also adopted major legislation providing historical subsidies and tax breaks, for example, in promoting semiconductor chip manufacturing and supporting advanced battery technology development and production. Congress and the courts have (somewhat unexpectedly) upheld the president’s use of national security as a basis of trade actions and generally supported his protectionist policies. Trade should not be restricted or weaponized. Global and national rules need to be strengthened and, perhaps, a bit updated, but protectionism in the name of national security is a losing argument. The growing movement by the US to rely more on national security and protectionism in formulating trade policy is a very worrisome development.