US President Joe Biden is outperforming his 2024 presidential election rival Donald Trump on his own terms. On Thursday, Biden said he will cover “the backs” of unionized workers fighting against Japan's Nippon Steel's $14 billion acquisition of United States Steel. Add to that his support for a bill to force the divestment or ban of TikTok. These ad hoc approaches to controversial safeguards of national security and commercial interests constitute a dangerous precedent.
Much of this, coupled with Biden's own Inflation Reduction Act, which sought to reward companies for bringing manufacturing back from other countries, is a somewhat inevitable culmination of the breakdown of the American consensus on trade. . The revolt against the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, with which then-President Barack Obama intended to unite a trade bloc aligned with the United States, gave way to Trump's agenda of make america great again, Make America Great Againwith heavy tariffs.
Balancing domestic unrest with domestic trade concerns and key allies has only become more complicated, as protests over the place of foreign rivals in the United States catch Biden at a delicate moment. Unions are a key political faction of the Democratic Party. United Steel workers' opposition to the Nippon deal jeopardizes their support ahead of the November elections.
Republican candidate Trump has seized on the issue, saying he would block the transaction. Biden's statement that US Steel should remain “domestically owned and operated,” although he stopped short of directly pledging a blockade, sent the company's stock tumbling. “It is important that we keep American steel companies strong,” Biden said.
On December 21, White House adviser Lael Brainard noted that domestic steel production is “critical” to national security.” The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews transactions involving non-U.S. buyers and investors, is set to review the operation.
TikTok
The United States House of Representatives approved a bill on the 13th that would require Chinese technology company ByteDance to divest from the social media application TikTok or face a ban in the United States. It now goes to the Senate for debate.
In theory, banning TikTok should be easy to support. Authorities have warned that it poses risks of surveillance or sowing divisive discourse. But Biden also has to balance. Lately, Donald Trump has been less assertive about removing the social media app from American phones. Support from the Democratic Party is mixed.
Amputating a challenger of Meta Platforms' stature weakens the national antitrust push. It also endangers American companies operating in China. Likewise, rejecting Japanese interests could alienate an ally in relations with China, while pushing US Steel into the arms of a buyer, Cleveland-Cliffs, that industries such as automobiles find intolerable, due to the reduction of the competence.
The Biden Administration's adoption of America First policies has caused consternation among European partners. Turning inward is more than just a bad image for a country that has used trade openness to build some of its biggest companies. Apple, valued at $2.7 trillion, relies on a Chinese supply chain; Tesla, the awkward linchpin of Biden's push into electric vehicles, is deeply rooted in China. Each circumstance has its own considerations. But embracing protectionism will not make America great again.
The authors are columnists for Reuters Breakingviews. The opinions are yours. The translation, of Carlos Gomez Belowit is the responsibility of Five days
Follow all the information Five days in Facebook, x and Linkedinor in our newsletter Five Day Agenda
To continue reading this Cinco Días article you need a Premium subscription to EL PAÍS
_
#Biden #overtakes #Trump #39Make #America #Great #Again39