A new report details just how essential these tools are for American workers, manufacturers, and economic and national security.
The following is a reprinting of the foreword of the Alliance for American Manufacturing’s latest report, How Trade Enforcement Strengthens American Manufacturing, written and researched by Dr. Carolina Ferrerosa Young. You can read find the report in full here.
When the Alliance for American Manufacturing released our first publication, Enforcing the Rules, in 2007, we began with a straightforward conviction: Trade only works when its rules are enforced. Nearly twenty years later, the well-being of American manufacturing and the workers and communities it sustains remains at the heart of our mission.
That history matters now. At a moment of political transition and debate over the president’s trade agenda, some policymakers may be tempted to roll back enforcement measures simply because of who advanced them. That would be a serious mistake. Trade enforcement is not the province of one president or one party. It is a longstanding, bipartisan responsibility, and as How Trade Enforcement Strengthens American Manufacturing shows, an essential tool for American workers, manufacturers, and our economic and national security.
The case studies in this report show what these tools can accomplish when they are used effectively. Enforcement can counter unfair trade, restore fair competition, support investment, preserve critical industrial capacity, and secure good jobs for American workers.
The answer, then, is not retreating. We should strengthen and modernize our trade enforcement system for an ever-changing global economy. We know the value of making things here. Domestic production creates good jobs, anchors innovation, strengthens resilience, and equips the United States to meet both economic and national security challenges.
I’m grateful to Dr. Carolina Ferrerosa Young for her deep research and thoughtful preparation of How Trade Enforcement Strengthens American Manufacturing. Dr. Young served on the front lines of this conversation at the White House and while serving several U.S. Senators. Thanks also to Matthew McMullan, Scott Boos, the team at AAM, and our stakeholders for their time and expertise in bringing this report to life.
This important work is a reminder that enforcing the rules is not partisan protectionism; it is the foundation of a trading system worthy of public confidence. We urge policymakers in both parties to build on that foundation.