Government Contracts & National Security Policies
Government Contracts & National Security Policies
In anticipation of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Winston has developed this resource guide on the presidential candidates’ policy positions related to government contracts and national security.
Visit our 2024 U.S. Presidential Candidates Policy Overview for additional insights on energy and environmental, technology and artificial intelligence, and health care.
Disclaimer: This page is strictly dedicated to providing public information on the candidates’ policy positions and in no way indicates an affiliation with any political party or candidate.
Joe Biden
Joe Biden’s key international trade and foreign policy objectives for a second Biden Administration include:
- The Biden Administration’s position on China is well briefed. As a result of the November 15, 2023 meeting with President Xi Jinping, the Administration provided a readout of priorities for the next few years. Specifically, President Biden called for the resumption of bilateral cooperation to combat global illicit drug manufacturing and trafficking including for synthetic drugs like fentanyl. The meeting also resulted in a commitment to resume high level military-to-military communications. In addition, both leaders agreed there is a risk of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and a need for AI safety protocols that can be achieved through bilateral discussions.
- During the November 15 meeting, Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Indo-Pacific allies, freedom of navigation and overflight, and stability of the South and East China Seas.
- Also addressed during the November 15 meeting was the United States’ commitment to human rights and People’s Republic of China human rights abuses. We would continue to expect enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act under any Administration.
- Finally, during the meeting, the President raised the United States’ commitment to continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine our own national security. We expect to see a continued focus on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and outbound investment into China. The Department of Defense, as a result of the NDAA passed in December, also has become active in this space by publishing an updated CMC list on January 31, 2024.
- As part of the growing trade war with China under the current Administration, President Biden’s Administration announced its intent to raise tariffs on clean energy goods from China. In particular, Chinese EVs will face quadrupled tariffs. The action, according to the Administration, is a result of the U.S. Trade Representative’s four year review relating to Chinese unfair trade practices including forced technology transfer and restrictions and intellectual property theft. The White House also announced that the tariff rate will double to 50 percent on solar cell imports from China. In addition, Section 301 tariff will increase to 25 percent (triple the current level) on certain steel and aluminum imports from China.
- The President will continue his focus on achieving net-zero emissions, economy wide by 2050.
- Beginning with the Barbados Agreement, signed on October 17, 2023, President Biden has supported rolling back sanctions on Venezuela – but with the understanding that they can be “snapped back” if the Maduro Administration fails to abide by the conditions. The State Department supported the Agreement although the United States was not a participant. Since then, in response to the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s decision not to allow opposition candidates, the U.S. Administration has warned that some of the general licenses may not be renewed. The licenses issued as a result of the Barbados Agreement included authorizations to engage in transactions with the Venezuelan-state owned PdVSA. While the Biden Administration has engaged in some prisoner exchanges, it also has continued to impose sanctions on persons in Venezuela involved in narcotics trafficking and human rights abuses. The expected focus for the next term will continue to be on ties between the Governments of Venezuela and Iran (like the recent EMTRASUR case). For example, on February 12, 2024, the Justice Department announced the completion of the final order for forfeiture of the U.S. manufactured Boeing 747, previously owned by Mahan Air and sold to the Government of Venezuela.
- We anticipate that the Department of Justice (regardless of Administration) will continue to prosecute Venezuela-corruption related cases, as well.
- The Administration continues to support humanitarian trade with Iran, including the release of frozen funds for use in the acquisition of humanitarian goods for Iran.
- With respect to the Red Sea and Iran’s support for the Houthis and the attacks on vessels, the Administration has ramped up sanctions implementation. The Administration re-sanctioned the Houthis as a terrorist organization on January 17, 2024 and identified entities and individuals supporting their efforts.
- On March 28, 2024, the Department of State announced a partnership with the Government of Mexico to explore diversification of the global semiconductor ecosystem under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund created under the CHIPS Act of 2022. Initial stages included a comprehensive assessment of Mexico’s existing semiconductor ecosystem and regulatory framework, as well as workforce and infrastructure needs.
- The CHIPS Act was signed into law on August 9, 2023. The Act, which among other things, provides billions of dollars of federal financial assistance to semiconductor companies to construct, expand, and modernize semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the United States. We anticipate an impact on both the domestic industry and importation requirements in Section 337 investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
- Beyond its impact on ITC investigations, the CHIPS Act will make it more difficult for semiconductor companies to invest in China. Any semiconductor company that receives federal financial assistance under the CHIPS Act must notify the Department of Commerce (Commerce) of any significant transactions involving the material expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in China. After reviewing the transaction, Commerce can either approve, mitigate, or block the transaction. In other words, much like how CFIUS currently reviews inbound foreign direct investment for national security risks and approves, mitigates, or blocks transactions, semiconductor companies will now have to negotiate an outbound investment screening process whenever they want to make certain investments in semiconductor manufacturing in China.
Joe Biden’s key antitrust and competition policy objectives for a second Biden Administration include:
- The Biden Administration has placed a consistent and heavy focus on the robust enforcement of the antitrust laws. Early in his presidency, Joe Biden signed his “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” announcing the “whole-of-government approach” to competition that has animated his presidency.
- One key feature of this approach has been heightened cooperation between government agencies to tackle alleged anti-competitive behavior. Another important facet of antitrust enforcement under the Biden Administration has been agencies’ willingness to overhaul longstanding enforcement policies. Sometimes conducted in tandem by different agencies, this push has included intensive reviews of longstanding antitrust policies, the cancellation or adjustment of various programs, including safe harbor and compliance programs, and the issuing of new rules, including new federal merger guidelines.
- During Joe Biden’s presidency, antitrust regulators have revived enforcement of long-dormant statutes. This has included charging criminal monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act and conducting Robinson-Patman Act investigations.
- Biden-era antitrust regulation has focused especially on labor markets, large technology companies, pricing and consumer welfare, and the merger sector.
- Under the leadership of FTC Chair Lina Khan, who was nominated by President Biden in 2021, and others, expansive antitrust enforcement has been a key focus of the Biden Administration. President Biden even highlighted antitrust enforcement a few times in his recent State of the Union address. A second Biden Administration would surely feature continued emphasis on the regulation of perceived anti-competitive behaviors.
Consumer Protection and Pricing
- The Biden Administration has repeatedly demonstrated that it places a high premium on protecting consumers from unfair and predatory pricing practices.
- Throughout the Biden presidency, antitrust regulators have attacked the drug industry over allegedly unfair pricing behaviors, with a mixed track record of success.
- During President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, he mentioned pricing-related efforts a few times, specifically mentioning his Administration’s commitment to combatting alleged price gouging, price-fixing, and “junk fees,” highlighting a variety of industries wherein he feels these problems loom particularly large.
- The Biden Administration recently announced the formation of a new strike force, run jointly by the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, with a charge to focus on unfair and illegal pricing practices.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s key international trade and foreign policy objectives for a second Trump Administration include:
- We anticipate this will include a focus on trade sanctions (enhanced focus on the Kingpin Act and the Global Magnitsky sanctions both for designations and enforcement). Candidate Trump has indicated he will also consider use of the Foreign Terrorist Organization statute to target cartels. In a similar fashion, we would expect the financial sector will be on heightened alert for money laundering and corruption for cross-border trade and financial services.
- In addition to sanctions on the cartels, it appears that a second Trump Administration will focus on dismantling human trafficking rings. Based on past precedent under prior administrations, we anticipate a focus on financial institutions for enhanced due diligence on cross border transactions and Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) filings.
- A second Trump Administration has expressed an interest in competing with China through energy independence. Specifically, Trump is proposing domestic drilling for both oil and natural gas. The focus will be domestic supply but also becoming a net exporter of natural gas. With a focus on domestic production, and depending on how elections in Venezuela proceed, we may see additional sanctions on Venezuela and its state-owned oil company PdVSA.
- A second Trump Administration is proposing total independence from China for public health. To accomplish this, the candidate is proposing to phase in tariffs and import restrictions to encourage the development of a manufacturing capacity in the United States for medicines. To this end, he has proposed to restore Executive Order 13944 (August 6, 2020). In addition to a “Buy America” provision, the Order required the U.S. Trade Representative to modify U.S. international trade agreements so that drugs deemed “essential” to public health by the FDA cannot be purchased by federal agencies from any of the trade ally countries that has a trade agreement with the U.S. that authorizes the manufacture for the U.S. market.
- In response to the Biden Administration’s May 14, 2024 announcement that increases tariffs on Chinese EVs, the Trump campaign has announced an intent to impose a 200 percent tax on every car that comes from Chinese manufacturing facilities in Mexico. The focus on Mexican manufacturing facilities arises from Chinese automaker BYD’s scouting trip to Mexico to identify locations for factories. The move is designed to avoid import tariffs that apply where cars are manufactured in China.
- A second Trump Administration will likely again exit the Paris Climate Accords.
- A second Trump Administration is proposing securing United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) protections for American auto workers. Specifically, the candidate is proposing increasing the amount of regional (U.S., Canada, and Mexico) auto parts content in North American cars.
- A second Trump Administration would impose a national tariff on foreign producers through a system of universal baseline tariffs on most imported goods. The candidate is calling this proposal the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act and would require Congressional legislation to implement.
- The candidate also proposes terminating the CAFÉ fuel economy standards and stopping subsidies to Chinese electric vehicle battery companies under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Donald Trump’s antitrust and competition policy objectives for a second Trump Administration include:
- As noted, the Biden Administration has made pricing practices a major focus of its antitrust enforcement efforts. Antitrust regulators have fought against price-fixing, “junk fees,” and various other arguably unfair and illegal pricing practices.
- Pricing practices likely would not be a priority for antitrust regulators under a second Trump Administration. Under the Trump Administration, agencies like the DOJ and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were less focused on pricing-related consumer protection efforts than the Biden Administration has been. Moreover, during the Biden Administration, some Republicans have expressed strong opposition to the Administration’s efforts in this sphere. For example, in 2022, then-FTC Commissioner Christine S. Wilson, a Trump appointee, dissented from an FTC Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding junk fees. Similarly, Senator Tim Scott recently came out against CFPB rules limiting credit card fees.
- Under the leadership of Chair Lina Khan, the FTC has been highly activist. Though some of the FTC’s actions have drawn support from certain congressional Republicans, including key Trump allies like Representative Matt Gaetz, the Khan FTC has overall been the subject of a great deal of conservative criticism, concern, and opposition.
- For example, in 2021, shortly after Lina Khan became FTC Chair, a group of Republican legislators sent a letter and issued public statements criticizing the FTC for overreaching, diverging from the DOJ, and pushing a “leftist” agenda. In late 2022, the House Judiciary Committee began looking into the FTC’s probe of Twitter, and in 2023, the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the FTC for documents related to their Twitter investigation and called FTC Chair Lina Khan before the Committee for hours of questioning. In that and other congressional sessions over the past couple of years, various Republican legislators have broadly criticized the policies of the Khan FTC. In 2023, when Republican FTC Commissioner Christine S. Wilson left the FTC, she criticized Lina Khan’s policies in an op-ed and a letter.
- Relatedly, the funding of the federal antitrust enforcement agencies has become an issue. In summer 2023, congressional Republicans threatened to cut the FTC’s budget by 25% due to its alleged “rank partisanship.” The agencies and President Biden have requested budget increases for 2025, even as Democratic pro-budget-increase legislators have raised the alarm about potential looming antitrust enforcement budget cuts.
- It seems certain that a second Trump Administration would feature a less activist antitrust enforcement agenda, and that the FTC would walk back some of the actions it has taken under Chair Lina Khan. The FTC’s policies under a second Trump Administration will presumably depend largely upon who is chosen to lead the agency—and, potentially, on whether that individual is someone who trends more toward the populist segment of Donald Trump’s political base or more toward the more traditional pro-business segment of that base. If Donald Trump is elected, then, based on historical norms, at least one of the three current Democratic FTC commissioners will resign, allowing for a majority of Republican FTC commissioners.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s key international trade and foreign policy objectives for a Kennedy Administration include:
- Kennedy’s approach to border security comes as a humanitarian crisis continues to unfold at the border, with corresponding focus. He proposes to seal the border and address and expand lawful immigration.
- Kennedy calls out the current Administration’s policies as empowering the criminal cartels and their abilities to exploit drug and human trafficking.
- As part of the longer-term solution, Kennedy promotes cooperation with Mexico and the Central American countries to improve economies and provide economic incentives to build employment and infrastructure.
- Finally, Kennedy is promoting a shift in U.S. trade and economic policy. He is promoting removing support for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. In their place, he is proposing reforming the financial regime away from a debt model.
Kennedy’s approach to reforming the U.S. economy includes a focus on anti-corruption and energy reform. In particular, Kennedy is proposing:
- Cutting drug costs in half to align them with other nations.
- Negotiating trade deals that prevent low wage countries from competing with American workers in a “race to the bottom”.
- Tightening military spending and use the resources for infrastructure, health care, higher education, and other domestic priorities.
Kennedy proposes to:
- Clean up corruption in Washington D.C., which he claims funnels the nation’s wealth to giant corporations and billionaires.
- Remove secrecy and create more government transparency.
Kennedy is also focused on environmental reform and proposes changes to global trade to effectuate that reform.
- He proposes to incentivize the transition of industry to zero-waste cycles and clean energy sources. He proposes accomplishing these goals through entering into agreements with other countries to implement global supply chain policies.
Kennedy proposes to adjust the focus of the military and involvement in overseas operations. He proposes to focus on domestic rather than foreign policy by:
- Ending proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, supporting coups;
- Adjusting the focus on Ukraine away from “weakening” Russia to “strengthening” the Ukrainians by identifying a diplomatic solution.
Jill Stein
Jill Stein’s key international trade and foreign policy objectives include:
- Adjusting U.S. foreign policy to center it around human rights to oppose “violence, occupation, and apartheid”;
- Bringing the military home; and
- Calling for a cease fire in Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice decision.