Explaining America’s Trade Policy

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The Biden administration has passed landmark legislations such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CHIPS and Science Act, which provide subsidies in clean energy and semiconductors worth well over $400 billion. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at home—not elsewhere. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States.

Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition.

But it’s not just the United States. The world over, countries are embarking on ambitious projects of industrial policy. What does that mean for trade and globalization?

FP’s Ravi Agrawal sat down with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the Biden administration’s top official tasked with mapping out and implementing the White House’s trade policy. Watch the conversation on FP Live, the magazine’s forum for live journalism, or read a condensed transcript.

Video clips from this event

  • U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai defends the Inflation Reduction Act and the United States’ focus on industry as responding to the challenge of a rising China.

Read the Transcript

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai in her office in Washington

The White House’s Case for Industrial Policy

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai counters critics who say the United States is fostering unfair competition.

Q&A  |  Ravi Agrawal

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Explaining America’s Trade Policy

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