Trading Up: Why America Must Ditch China and Pursue Better Manufacturing Opportunities

As Rob Atkinson writes for National Interest, if we want the United States to maintain its leadership position in advanced technologies—and we should—then the administration’s policy should involve some decoupling from China. But instead of limiting sales and investment in China by fiat, the Trump administration should work toward market-based decoupling that effectively loosens China’s grip on global production.

There is no going back to the U.S.-China economic and trade relationship that existed before President Trump, which created the conditions for China’s mercantilism-powered rise. But there can be and should be a strategy that pushes China to reform while also strengthening U.S. companies, U.S. workers, and the U.S. economy.