Trump attacks globalist trade policies
President Donald Trump unveiled his trade policy objectives this week and emphasized his plan to strengthen “the American economy, the American worker, and our national security” in his second term.
Just hours after taking the oath of office on Monday, Trump introduced a myriad of sweeping executive actions which included a presidential memorandum outlining his vision for an “America First” trade policy. By reducing American “dependence on other countries,” the president’s policy aims to promote “investment and productivity” and defend U.S. “economic and national security,” according to the memorandum.
“Americans benefit from and deserve an America First trade policy,” Trump wrote. “Therefore, I am establishing a robust and reinvigorated trade policy that promotes investment and productivity, enhances our Nation’s industrial and technological advantages, defends our economic and national security, and — above all — benefits American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses.”
The president’s trade policy requires federal agencies to deliver various reports and recommendations to him by April 1, 2025, including on “unfair trade practices” from foreign countries, the reciprocity of existing trade agreements and an investigation into the “economic and national security implications” resulting from current trade deficits, according to the memorandum.
“Looking at President Trump’s first term, he is not religious about protectionist trade policy or free trade policy,” Andrew Hale, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He looks at the big picture, and he is a dealmaker. He wants the best deal for America, and particularly he wants to make American manufacturing great again.”
The U.S. trade deficit has been steadily rising for decades, reaching $773.4 billion in 2023 — the deficit with China also grew to roughly $279.4 billion the same year. In 2022, the U.S. trade deficit with China was $382.3 billion, a 8.3% increase over 2021, the year former President Joe Biden took office. Recently, China’s trade surplus grew to a record $104.84 billion in December 2024, and nearly $1 trillion for the year.
Beyond addressing the trade deficit, Trump’s plan involves reshoring critical American manufacturing, noting in his memorandum that he “treated trade policy as a critical component to national security” in his first administration.
Hale similarly warned that U.S. outsourcing of manufacturing to foreign countries such as China remains a potential stumbling block, and emphasized the need to “nearshore and friendshore” American manufacturing.
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The Trump trade policies also make the US less vulnerable to foreign countries for supplies in the event of war. Dependency on China looks like a bad plan. American manufacturing companies should benefit from the Trump policies.
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