The United States is poised to launch a much-needed initiative to advance American global competitiveness. Done right, such an initiative could usher in a U.S. era of strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, along with reinvigorated global leadership. Both Congress and the Biden administration are contemplating major initiatives. They should take bold action, lest they squander this moment.

The new focus on competitiveness has been prompted by a confluence of factors: a global pandemic that highlighted supply chains and the importance of domestic manufacturing; a digital revolution that has emphasized the importance of digital inclusion, training and infrastructure; and the technological competitiveness of a risen China.

The development of the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011 followed on a series of highly publicized cases, starting with the 1984 disaster at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, where corporations acted with clear disregard for the rights of workers, indigenous communities, and political dissidents and human rights defenders.

The Guiding Principles established a new framework for defining the roles of states and businesses in protecting and respecting human rights. While broadly supported, the Guiding Principles also stirred a debate among business, government, and civil society about the appropriate role of so-called “voluntary” guidance vis-à-vis “binding” regulation. More recently, however, the overly rigid delineation of “voluntary” versus “binding” measures has broken down – often for good reason.

ALI was delighted that a group of Congressional Democrats, led by Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA), and including Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Don Beyer (D-VA), Ron Kind (D-WI) and Teri Sewell (D-AL), introduced a resolution last week, directing the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to resume the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) negotiations at the World Trade Organization within 90 days. The resolution states that the U.S. is a leader in the development of environmental goods but faces high tariffs for some of those products, and that restarting the EGA negotiations “represents a significant opportunity to help countries across the world access high-quality affordable environmental goods while also leveling the playing field for American manufacturers and supporting green jobs.".

The United States must launch a comprehensive global digital strategy to prepare for the post-pandemic future. While the digital revolution has generated many benefits for society, this rapid change, accelerated by the pandemic, also has created economic disruption, devastating many in the middle and working classes and posing challenges to American democracy. A global digital strategy, with the right policies, will allow the U.S. to counter these negative impacts and harness the potential of this revolution. It will enable us to create a more inclusive and growing American economy, establish digital governance to protect democracy, support inclusive economic growth in developing countries, and position the U.S. as a global digital leader.

Launching a global digital strategy is also vital to our ability to counter the challenge posed by China.

It is important to acknowledge that foreign policy and trade must begin at home, and attention must be paid to jobs lost and communities hurt due to trade, and Americans will remain skeptical of trade deals, as long as their social safety net is lacking. Developing a "trade policy for the middle class," is a focus of ALI, exploring issues that need to be addressed in order for the U.S. to engage in 21st century trade agreements that are sustainable and inclusive.

The piece below by Tim Meyer, discusses a new approach for updating Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), which expires in July 2021. ALI shares pieces from selected authors, which do not necessarily reflect the views of ALI but which shed light on issues of importance to ALI's mission.

ALI’s A Global Digital Strategy for America: A Roadmap to Build back a More Inclusive Economy, Protect Democracy and Meet the China Challenge is a comprehensive roadmap to enable the United States to be a digital leader in the 21st century.

Click here to read the report, or here to read an executive summary.

The report asserts that this new global digital strategy must include two interrelated pillars: Investing in America and Leading Globally. At home, it calls for landmark investments in digital training and connectivity, the development of a digital governance regime, and measures to upgrade America’s technological competitiveness among other topics. The report emphasizes that these investments must come with implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion policies to ensure that the benefits are widely shared among all Americans.

When he takes office in January, President-Elect Biden will inherit the worst set of domestic and global crises since FDR - a global pandemic, a ravaged economy combined with social unrest, deeply frayed global ties, and a cold war with China.

These circumstances necessitate a reexamination of traditionally held views, and an openness to break with well-established policies. This crisis brings the opportunity for new creativity to address our new realities. Four new realities should guide the Administration’s thinking.

At the American Leadership Initiative, we work every day to develop a 21st Century agenda for advancing American global leadership based upon American interests and values. Unfortunately, America’s moral authority as a global leader has been undermined by systemic racism brought to light by police killings of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and others. Many around the world have looked on in dismay as violent police assaults on peaceful protesters and journalists on American streets look very much like images they are used to seeing in repressive regimes.

Record numbers of Americans have filed for unemployment because of the coronavirus pandemic, with grim job losses predicted over the coming months. Projections by the St. Louis Federal Reserve show U.S. unemployment could reach 47 million, or 32 percent, considerably higher than the 25 percent unemployment peak during…

For the past three and a half years, the U.S. government has denigrated and weakened global institutions and alienated our allies. The impact of this “America First” policy and lack of American global leadership has harmed American interests, including our ability to address the COVID-19 global pandemic. But there are actions our government can take now to reverse this course and take on the current crisis.

Governments buy a wide variety of goods and services from the private sector, from bridges and road construction, to power plants and digital infrastructure, to office and hospital supplies. In 2018, global government procurement amounted to $11 trillion or 12 percent of global GDP. The U.S. government procurement market alone was $837 billion in 2010. While…

As the U.S. and China prepare to sign the “Phase 1" trade deal announced by the White House, it seems clear that China has won this round of the trade war. In addition to the significant self-inflicted economic losses the U.S. sustained from the trade war it initiated, it has magnified this loss by squandering its leverage with a deal which allows China to preserve its mercantilist economic system, continue subsidizing its state-owned-enterprises and imposing other discriminatory industrial policies, while insulating itself from further U.S. tariff increases, at least until after the election.

Now that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has won the United Kingdom elections by a landslide, Brexit seems like a sure thing. However, the initial act of removing Britain from the European Union is only the first in a multi-act play — the details of the divorce are still vague and likely will take years to work out. The Trump administration is anxiously lining up to be the first to negotiate a trade deal with a new Britain, once it is unshackled from the EU.  

Chris Taylor of the New Democrat Network has written a concise analysis of the "Phase 1" China deal announced by the White House.  The details of the IPR commitments have not been announced yet, and there have been numerous other such commitments that China has made and broken over the years.

The American Leadership Initiative welcomes the newly revised and concluded US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as an accomplishment that modernizes the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in important ways. The agreement has new language that protects the U.S. economy, workers and the environment, and sets new rules governing such matters as digital trade and labor law.

The most significant trade issue currently facing Congress is the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. USMCA will be an important step to reasserting American leadership and supporting U.S. competitiveness. A key issue in the agreement under discussion between the Administration and members of the House, are the provisions governing labor rights. 

ALI Advisory Board member, Paula Stern, has written a piece discussing the importance of Congress reasserting itself on trade issues, during a time of Executive overreach. Restoring a system of checks regarding trade policy, as was envisioned by the Constitution, is critical to developing policies that are more inclusive, balanced and reflective of the priorities needed to restore American Leadership in the 21st century.

Nelson Cunningham (ALI Advisory Board member) and David Beier discuss the importance of the U.S. taking the lead in setting global standards for Artificial Intelligence (AI). He frames this priority in terms that ALI has explored in the digital space—whose rules will shape the future of AI- the liberal Western view or the Chinese authoritarian view?

The U.S.-China relationship is one of the key challenges facing America today. The current Administration has pursued a trade war that is quickly moving towards a cold war and economic disengagement that undermines American interests.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs-by-tweet tendencies and brinkmanship on both sides of the negotiating table have led to a breakdown in talks with China, an escalating trade war, and no doubt many sleepless nights in Beijing and in American boardrooms. But for the United States, the unease is misdirected.