WASHINGTON, D.C. (NAFB) – The pieces of the Biden Administration’s trade and foreign policy agenda are starting to fall into place, at least conceptually as laid out by Secretary of State Tony Blinken in his maiden speech this week. Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
Blinken says U.S. trade and foreign policy are inseparable from domestic policy, and the Biden team will pursue them that way, putting labor protections and job security first.
Vowing to now use every tool to go after intellectual property theft, currency manipulation and corruption, but maybe more slowly, new trade deals.
Biden’s trade policy will be less confrontational than his predecessor, except maybe on China…but even there, State’s latest strategic guidance calls for more investment at home to “out-compete…China.”
One area the U.S. may need China’s help: Climate Change.
And while Blinken as Obama Deputy Secretary of State, promoted the Trans-Pacific Partnership to counter China’s influence, Blinken vowed Biden would chart a different course than Obama.
What that is, and how the Biden trade approach will now impact talks with the UK, EU, Asian and African nations, remains an open question.