Trade and National Security
In the decades since World War II, U.S. policy has seen trade and national security as closely linked, often justifying trade agreements as a way of using economics to reward important security partners and bind allies closer together. In 2020, national security rhetoric continues to feature in the trade debate, but seldom in regard to trade as a means of strengthening ties among allies.
Trump has used national security concerns as a justification for many of his trade actions, imposing tariffs on aluminum and steel imports under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which allows the president to impose restrictions on imports that “threaten to impair the national security.” He has cited national security while considering whether to impose tariffs on automobiles and auto parts and to ban U.S. companies from doing business with Chinese tech company Huawei. The president’s rhetoric is grounded in a line of reasoning that defines security as synonymous with the strength of domestic industry.
His view is not shared by other candidates. Many technology experts, however, cite a narrower list of largely technological concerns around certain technologies and their acquisition by potential adversaries, chiefly China. Defense experts are concerned about the inability of the U.S. military and infrastructure to acquire certain technologies without the possibility of other countries—again, chiefly China—being able to compromise them.
Perhaps surprisingly, no candidate has discussed these national security aspects of trade policy.
In a departure from more traditional definitions of national security, Sanders explicitly identifies it in terms of food security, defined as reliable access to affordable, nutritious food. His plan for “Revitalizing Rural America” raises concerns with current policy, noting, “our current trade policies encourage overproduction and push low-cost commodities on foreign countries, effectively undercutting and destroying local agricultural systems while enriching multinational corporations. …[We should] classify food supply security as a national security issue. We need trade policies that safeguard food security at home and around the globe.”