Forward to the 1980s: US strategic trade in the world order

This paper argues that the Trump administration adopted a politicized form of strategic trade policy in its approach to international trade. This strategy combined deregulation, free trade, subsidies, export promotion, and various forms of protectionism. These trade instruments were ideologically incoherent, but the administration designed them so domestic firms could compete against foreign ones and so the US to dominate the world order. These policies came from debates in the 1980s when the Reagan administration created a strategy to stem manufacturing decline as European and Asian economies grew. When we see the 1980s as a confrontational moment for the USA in the world, we can better understand the origins and practice of the Trump administration's strategic vision on trade policy in the 2010s.