Project 2025 Status
Chapter Authors
is one of only three former senior White House officials in Trump administration who served from the start of the campaign through Trump’s term in office. He is a former West Wing top China hawk and trade czar, and served as Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy and Defense Production Act Policy Coordinator.
is President and CEO of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and a writer on topics of telecommunications, privacy, environmental, antitrust, consumer protection regulation, trade policy and regulatory systems.
Chapter 26 offers two opposing visions for reforming trade policies, which have a major effect on the US economy: Navarro argues for new regulation to redress what he sees as unfair WTO policies that hamper US trade and benefit China, while Lassman argues for a drastic reduction in regulation — a reliance on the traditional Republican belief in the free market. Both see China as a major threat — both economically and in terms of global power — but while Navarro urges aggressive action, Lassman argues that free trade will produce peace.
Chapter 26 is a double chapter, with two separate authors making different, diametrically opposed arguments. In Part 1, Navarro argues for fair trade; in Part 2, Lassman also argues for free trade. While they disagree on fundamental strategy, they agree on the practical and symbolic significance of trade: as Navarro puts it, “economic security is also national security.” In Lassman’s words, “trade policy is about more than goods and services: it is a statement of American identity.” In other words, trade is a crucial element of US global dominance.
The Case for Fair Trade Navarro sees the current situation as dire: he focuses on the damage caused by trade deficits (especially with China), which have been created by regulations imposed by countries that are trying to usurp US trade dominance. The first step to solving this issue is to reverse the trend of offshoring critical manufacturing and defense production. He lists the two major challenges to this goal:
The World Trade Organization (WTO), and its Most Favored Nation rule: the resulting high tariffs on American goods have caused the exploitation of American farmers and workers, and have produced trade deficits. “This systemic trade imbalance serves as a brake and bridle on both GDP growth and real wages in the American economy while encumbering the US with significant foreign debt.”
China: China has aggressively used protectionist tariffs in order to move toward global trade dominance; these have skewed international trade.
Navarro continues to outline the current trade deficits in the US and their causes (with detailed statistical information laid out in a series of tables), and concludes that if the US continues to increase its enormous trade deficit with China (a result of China’s economic aggression), there will be serious consequences for national security. China’s broader goal, he argues, is “to strengthen Communist China’s defense industrial base and associated warfighting capabilities.”
In other words, China wants to overtake the US as a global power, and thus poses an existential threat: “The CCP’s self-proclaimed goal is to supplant the US as the world’s dominant economic and military superpower.”
Proposed steps to solve the problem:
Increase tariffs on goods made in China
Give incentives to US companies that want to bring manufacturing back to US
Prohibit Chinese companies from bidding on US government contracts
Prohibit Chinese drones from American airspace
Prohibit US pension funds from investing in Chinese stocks, and further regulate any American investment in Chinese companies
Reduce and eliminate any US dependence on Chinese supply chains
Stop the flow of technologies to China through espionage
End hiring of Chinese nationals to do STEM work in American universities and labs as deeply problematic; they take useful information back to China
Order Homeland Security to identify and disrupt CCP influencers’ social media operations For these steps to be implemented, Navarro stresses, the next GOP president would need crucial personnel to speak with one voice and share his vision (which has not been the case in the past). He concludes that, if the US doesn’t counter Chinese economic aggression, the consequences could be catastrophic: “In this scenario, might America thereby lose a broader war for America’s freedom and prosperity, not by shots fired but by American cash registers ringing up ‘Made in China’ products? …It follows that for both economic and national security reasons, trade deficits do indeed matter.”
The key to successful trade policies is removing tariffs rather than imposing them, he states. Retaliatory tariffs (such as the 2018 steel tariffs) tend to backfire by causing job loss and higher consumer prices. “Trade is generally a win-win for both participants. Tariffs are a lose- lose-lose game,” he states, while protectionism does not work.
The natural employment disruptions caused by changes in trade could be ameliorated by relaxing zoning rules and other types of regulations. Protectionism also weakens the supply chain, as was seen in the 2022 baby formula shortage, which was caused by an outdated tariff that kept foreign imports out of the market. The lesson learned is that “trade protectionism makes us more vulnerable, but free trade makes our families and communities more resilient.”
Other proposals:
He is optimistic that generational and culture shifts will eventually reduce China’s threat.
Specific proposals: