America’s new trade policy isn’t about economics — it’s about power

Source: The Hill
by Marc L Busch & Joel P Trachtman

“The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy, released last Thursday, makes one thing unmistakably clear: The United States no longer sees trade policy as a tool of economic betterment that depends on cooperation with other countries. It now treats trade as hard power to be deployed against friend and foe alike, rather than to be negotiated to maximize benefits to the U.S. For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations alike viewed trade as a means of promoting growth, lowering costs, opening markets and deepening integration. This new strategy flips that logic on its head. Trade is no longer something the U.S. does to improve economic outcomes. It is something Washington wields unilaterally to restructure the world — to coerce other governments and to project power.” (12/11/25)

https://thehill.com/opinion/5642843-national-security-strategy-trade/