The Biden administration has outlined an ambitious international economic agenda, focused on infrastructure and clean energy, to address major global challenges and promote sustainable growth. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan presented the plan in a speech at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday, laying out a vision for a new era of US-led economic cooperation that goes beyond trade for trade’s sake and markets as ends unto themselves.
“It is a time to build, at home and abroad. This will require a major reorientation of domestic and foreign policy,” Sullivan said. “The goal is no longer trade for trade’s sake or markets as ends unto themselves: we have larger, more urgent aims—rebuilding our energy, physical, and technology infrastructure. And we’ll do it via targeted public investments that crowd in private capital to deliver good jobs.”
Sullivan argued that this approach is essential to address four major challenges facing the world today: resurrecting a middle class, sowing political support for further decarbonization, out-competing China, and repairing faith in democracy itself. He noted that US domestic efforts alone will pay global dividends, with taxpayer-funded investments expected to reduce global clean energy costs by more than 15%.
The plan involves a range of initiatives, including investing in infrastructure through the proposed American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, as well as new regional deals like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the Africa Clean Energy Partnership. These deals are designed to hasten the transition to clean energy, create trusted tech ecosystems, diversify supply chains, end tax havens, and corruption.
In addition, the Biden administration is proposing new emissions-based trade deals, which would link market access to environmental standards, and more funding for emerging markets through debt relief and increased lending from the World Bank. Sullivan emphasized that the plan is not just about the US, but about fashioning answers that work for the world as a whole.
“If the project of the last era was reducing tariffs and opening capital markets, we did that by the early 2000s. Spending years taking them to zero won’t move the ball on any of the above,” Sullivan said. “What will? Figuring out the business of building the energy, technology, and physical infrastructure we need, at home and with allies.”
The plan is not without its challenges, however, as it will require significant political will and cooperation, both domestically and internationally. It will also face scrutiny from those who argue that it represents a return to protectionism and a departure from the principles of free trade that have guided global economic policy for decades.
But Sullivan argued that the challenges facing the world today require a new approach, one that prioritizes sustainable growth and shared prosperity over short-term gains. “These problems – inequality and damage to democracy, hollowing out of our industrial base, competition with China, climate change – aren’t unique to America,” he said. “So just as we’ve done across history, we will fashion answers that work for us but not us alone.”
The Biden administration’s international economic agenda marks a significant departure from the policies of the previous administration, which prioritized bilateral trade deals and unilateral action over multilateral cooperation. It reflects a growing recognition of the interconnectedness of global challenges and the need for collective action to address them. Whether it will succeed in its goals remains to be seen, but it represents a bold vision for a new era of US-led economic cooperation.
