Every nation ‘ought to endeavor to possess within itself all the essentials of national supply.’
For the better part of a century, the U.S. was the principal architect and guarantor of an open global economic system that delivered great benefits. It raised our allies from the ruins of war, widened the channels of global trade, and lifted standards of living worldwide. Yet its assumptions need revisiting.
Economic security begins with the capacity to build, invent, finance and scale the industries that will define the next century, among them semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, shipbuilding, critical minerals and pharmaceuticals. More than economic sectors, these are sources of national power. The U.S. must lead in all of them.
Third, America must write the rules of the next economy. Economic competition is no longer confined to the movement of goods across oceans and ports. It will be shaped by the platforms, systems and protocols through which commerce flows in the 21st century. In each of these domains, standards can become strategy. If the U.S. and our partners set open, secure, market-based standards, this century’s economy will tilt toward freedom and prosperity.