U.S. National Industrial Policy Strategy

The CNAS Developing a U.S. National Industrial Policy Strategy project develops the intellectual framework for industrial policy in the American context, in an era of strategic competition with technology at its center. The goal is to pave the way for enhanced and sustained American economic competitiveness and technological leadership.

The Developing a U.S. National Industrial Policy Strategy project examines the appropriate role of government intervention to shape market outcomes in pursuit of public policy objectives, while considering how to design such interventions to avoid undermining the U.S. advantage of an open economy and trading system. It will explore domestic and international tools that may be used to pursue industrial policy, as well as the constraints that existing legal frameworks may place on industrial policy. The project will culminate in a set of policy recommendations for scoping and executing a uniquely American industrial policy.

The United States has a strategic interest in a strong industrial base to ensure military readiness and emergency preparedness, maintain U.S. innovation and competitive advantages, and promote broad-based domestic prosperity. While the United States has implemented industrial policy piecemeal, it lacks a clear vision for a long-term, comprehensive industrial policy that goes beyond remedying vulnerabilities revealed by recent crises. At the same time, the industrial policies of some nations – that of friends and foes alike – create competitive advantages for those nations’ national champions and key sectors. This project develops a detailed blueprint for an industrial policy strategy to meet the China challenge and to promote American resilience and competitiveness.

The CNAS U.S. National Industrial Policy Strategy project, partially supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Commercial and Economic Analysis (OCEA), aims to provide a menu of policy recommendations to further U.S. industrial policy. Through a series of discussion workshops, reports, op-eds, and podcasts, this project will develop a comprehensive U.S. industrial policy strategy to galvanize American economic competitiveness.

This project involves the following research programs:

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Energy, Economics & Security

Rewire: Semiconductors and U.S. Industrial Policy

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Competitive Connectivity

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Lighting the Path

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Reboot: Framework for a New American Industrial Policy

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Networked: Techno-Democratic Statecraft for Australia and the Quad

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Containing Crisis

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