Imported autos are being targeted with tariffs for “national security” reasons – but why? Congress introduced bipartisan bills to restrain the administration’s use of Section 232 tariffs. In a still-confidential 2019 report, the Department reportedly found that imported autos like the Volkswagon GTI “threaten to impair the national security” and recommended that the president impose tariffs as high as 25 percent.
The question of where and how pencils are made has resurfaced in the current debate over American trade policy. Policymakers often try to revive trade-impacted low-tech sectors through trade protection. The pencil industry’s experience highlights the difficulties of this approach.
The marriage of the physical and digital worlds has unlocked limitless economic opportunities, providing a boost to productivity and propelling us into the next industrial revolution. Policymakers will need to work to keep up by removing trade barriers that could limit the global reach of the Internet of Things.