Section 4 · The Economy
🤝Ch. 26 — Trade
USTR / Trade · 14 tracked
Consider destination-based border adjustment tax as tariff alternative
Proposed
Navarro notes the Ryan–Brady border adjustment tax proposal as a legislative alternative that would deny import deductions and exempt export income, leveling the field under WTO rules without classic tariffs.
Expand China tariffs to all products and subsidize onshoring from China
Proposed
Navarro recommends strategically expanding tariffs to all Chinese products at rates that block Made-in-China goods (paced to protect essential pharma access) plus large financial/tax incentives for firms relocating production from China to the U.S.
Cut Chinese access to U.S. capital: pensions, listings, HK clearing, sovereign bonds
Proposed
Navarro’s package would bar Chinese high-tech investment into the U.S., stop U.S. pensions from buying Chinese stocks, delist non-PCAOB-compliant Chinese issuers (or close A-shares / deregister sanctioned firms), block Hong Kong clearinghouses as conduits, and bar Chinese sovereign bonds from U.S. portfolios.
Presidential commission to hold CCP accountable for COVID origins and damages
Proposed
Navarro proposes a presidential commission or select congressional committee to investigate COVID origins at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and pursue means of collecting trillions in damages from the CCP.
Close China de minimis loophole and bar Chinese SOEs from U.S. procurement
Proposed
Navarro’s China package includes ending Chinese abuse of the $800 de minimis import exemption and prohibiting Chinese state-owned enterprises from bidding on U.S. government procurement (e.g., transit systems).
Ban Chinese-made drones and Chinese social apps (TikTok, WeChat)
Proposed
Navarro urges prohibiting Chinese-made drones in U.S. airspace and banning Chinese social media apps such as TikTok and WeChat on national-security and consumer-data grounds.
DHS/DOJ AI influence ops, counterfeit crackdowns, Confucius Institutes, China visas
Proposed
Navarro’s package directs DHS/DOJ AI contracts to disrupt CCP social-media influence, expands DHS crackdowns on Chinese e-seller counterfeits via Amazon/eBay/Alibaba channels, compels closure of Confucius Institutes, and sharply reduces or eliminates visas for Chinese students/researchers.
Eliminate China-critical supply dependence and sanction Great Firewall facilitators
Proposed
Navarro calls for systematically eliminating U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains for medicines, chips, rare earths, motherboards, displays, and military components, and for sanctioning companies (including U.S. firms like Apple) that facilitate China’s Great Firewall surveillance/censorship.
Staff USTR/Commerce/NEC/Defense for fair-trade and Section 232 alignment
Proposed
Navarro argues personnel is trade policy: appoint a Lighthizer-style USTR committed to fair/reciprocal trade, an International Trade Under Secretary aggressive on AD/CVD, align NSA/CEA/NEC on that agenda, and ensure Defense signs off on Section 232 cases treating economic security as national security.
End Section 232/201/301 tariffs and repeal those authorities (free-trade case)
Proposed
Lassman’s free-trade case says the Administration should unilaterally end tariffs imposed under Sections 232, 201, and 301 and work with Congress to repeal those provisions so future Presidents cannot abuse them.
Close EXIM, repeal Jones Act, restore Trade Promotion Authority (free-trade case)
Proposed
Lassman recommends closing the Export–Import Bank (charter lapse), repealing the Jones Act, and restoring presidential Trade Promotion Authority for ally trade deals while keeping trade-unrelated provisions out of agreements.
Resist TAA expansion; remove supply-chain restrictions; mutual recognition with allies
Proposed
Lassman urges resisting more Trade Adjustment Assistance spending, removing protectionist supply-chain restrictions (citing baby-formula rules), and enacting mutual recognition so products safe for EU/Japan markets are treated as safe for U.S. consumers.
WTO reform/successor, rejoin TPP, trade-only IPEF, targeted China policy
Proposed
Lassman urges restoring WTO dispute settlement or building a democracies-only successor, rejoining TPP/CPTPP, refocusing IPEF on trade (dropping progressive non-trade issues), ending China’s developing-nation WTO status, and using firm-specific targeting rather than blanket China tariffs.
Pass U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act to mirror partner tariffs and NTBs
Proposed
Navarro’s fair-trade case urges Congress to pass the United States Reciprocal Trade Act so the President can force partners with higher nonreciprocal tariffs or nontariff barriers to match U.S. levels or face mirrored U.S. duties.