The Trump Administration's Trade Sovereigntism

• In Event: Poster Session: Urban Politics & International Order, Environmental Issues, and IPE
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: International Order, Environmental Issues, and IPE

Abstract

The paper provides a broad analysis of the Trump administration's trade policy, identifying a consistent pattern (or theme) of trade sovereignty by examining specific policy actions. Trump's approach to commercial policy represents a deviation from previous U.S. policy, featuring economic nationalism, transactional protectionism, and a rejection of binding dispute settlement mechanisms. The paper analyzes the specifics (KORUS, TPP, WTO, USMCA, China, etc.) in the context of a broader ideational vision of trade policy sovereignty, contrasting with previous presidential administrations--and also with what had been Republican party trade orthodoxy. As a whole, the administration's trade policy seems to have been primarily driven not by material interests or (re)electoral advantage--as the bulk of the academic literature would predict--but by an ideological commitment to maintaining U.S. sovereignty.

Author

• Joel J. Toppen, Hope College