The End of Free Trade

Almost no one in the last several decades has done more to change the American approach to trade than Robert Lighthizer. Lighthizer was the U.S. trade representative in President Donald Trump’s first term. In that role, he set out to reverse Washington’s long-standing commitment to a global trading system. It was a crusade—using tariffs, among other tools—that targeted China above all but also any other country that, as he saw it, benefited from that system at the expense of the United States.

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Lighthizer recently laid out his vision for a new trade order in Foreign Affairs. With Trump levying tariffs and wielding American economic power against both allies and adversaries, Lighthizer argues that the free trade system should be thrown out, replaced with one that is more balanced, sovereign, and transparent.

Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke with Lighthizer on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday, July 15.

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Sources:

“The New Trade Order” by Robert E. Lighthizer

“What Trump Gets Wrong About the Global Economy” with Adam S. Posen

“The New American Way of Trade” by Robert E. Lighthizer

This episode of The Foreign Affairs Interview was produced by Mary Kate Godfrey and Kanishk Tharoor, with audio engineering by Todd Yeager and Christopher Koch and original music by Robin Hilton. Special thanks to Irina Hogan.

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