Has the break with the pro-globalization consensus carried across administrations?
Core argument: Trump repudiated a 40-year pro-globalization consensus, making great-power competition with China the centerpiece of US foreign policy, pulling America out of the TPP, working to hobble the WTO, imposing tariffs on China, and renegotiating NAFTA.
For many, Trump’s legacy will be his assault on the American democratic system. But, in important respects, Trump brought about a lasting revolution in US foreign and domestic policy. Trump repudiated the previous 40-yr pro-globalization consensus, argued that US policy towards China has failed, and that the Communist party will never be a “responsible stakeholder” in the int’l system. He made “great-power competition” with China the centerpiece of his approach to the world, pulled America out of the TPP, made a deliberate effort to hobble the WTO, imposed a raft of tariffs on China, and renegotiated NAFTA. The Biden administration has retained most of these Trump-era policies. Biden made no attempt to rejoin the TPP and continues to block the WTO's appellate court. Trump’s victory in 2016 also forced Democrats to take the plight and anger of US workers more seriously. “Bidenomics” are driven by a Trump-like desire to reindustrialize America and rebuild the middle class.


