Defending American Trade Today for Our Nation’s Future

The 2026 Trade Agreement advanced by President Donald Trump and Ambassador Jamieson Greer represents a return to America First economic policy. At its core lies a simple but powerful truth: the United States Constitution is our most important trade agreement. It establishes a federal government charged first and foremost with promoting the general welfare of the American people and our sovereignty.

Our trade policy must reflect that priority, but for too long, it has not.

Over the past thirty years, U.S. trade policy drifted away from domestic production policy. Washington policymakers celebrated cheap imports while neglecting American workers. While manufacturing hollowed out across the rust belt for decades, in 2023 and 2024, the United States ran significant trade deficits in agriculture for the first time in modern history. This should alarm anyone concerned about food and supply chain security.

Trade deficits were never just about negative accounting entries. Persistent imbalances artificially boost the competitiveness of foreign imports while eroding the competitiveness of American exports. When that imbalance stretches across strategic sectors like steel, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and now agriculture, it becomes not just an economic threat, but a threat to national security as well. A nation that cannot produce what it consumes places its independence at risk.

The 2026 Trade Agreement seeks to right the wrongs of our failed past policies. Since President Trump began implementing his reforms in April 2025, the measured results have been a day and night difference. The trade deficit in goods declined on a year-over-year basis every month through December 2025. Most notably, the United States’ trade deficit with China fell by 32 percent year-over-year in 2025. For the first time since 2000, China is no longer the trading partner with which the United States runs its largest trade deficit.

This is the product of deliberate strategy rooted in reciprocity, enforcement, and economic realism.

There is now no doubt about the costs of more than two decades of unfettered trade with China. After they joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the United States lost millions of jobs as our workers faced unfair competition from state-owned enterprises and manipulated currency. For more than twenty years, China has been the largest single driver of America’s trade deficit. The 2026 Trade Agreement responds to that threat.

America First trade policy does not mean retreating from global leadership, and still works within the framework of free market principles. It means leading with strength while securing American interests at home. It means insisting on reciprocal market access. It means enforcing the rules. And it means aligning trade with national security.

As policymakers look ahead to this year’s trade strategy, several priorities must guide implementation of the agreement.

First, the United States should continue the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade program. Reciprocity must be the baseline principle of every commercial relationship. American manufacturers, farmers, and producers must have a fair playing field. 

Second, enforcement is essential. Trade agreements are only as strong as the mechanisms that ensure compliance. The administration must rigorously enforce existing reciprocal agreements and U.S. trade laws. Americans deserve confidence in knowing the rules will not be ignored or selectively applied.

Third, supply chain security must remain central. Securing access to critical minerals and strategic sectors is vital for both economic competitiveness and defense readiness. The vulnerabilities exposed in recent years underscored the dangers of overreliance on foreign suppliers, particularly adversarial ones.

Fourth, trade with China must be managed with a clear focus on reciprocity and balance. Engagement without leverage failed in the past. Strategic firmness has already yielded measurable reductions in the trade deficit and must continue.

Most importantly, the agreement must consistently promote American interests across all sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, energy, and technology. It must strengthen the entire productive base of our nation.

The early results of the 2026 Trade Agreement demonstrate that disciplined policy can reverse damaging trends. A declining goods deficit, a substantial reduction in the imbalance with China, and renewed attention to domestic production all signal a shift toward economic sustainability.

The Constitution sets our priorities. It directs the government to secure liberty and promote the general welfare of the American people. The 2026 Trade Agreement honors that mandate. By restoring reciprocity, enforcing the law, securing supply chains, and prioritizing domestic production, it advances sovereignty at all levels.

America can lead the world economically without surrendering its industrial base. It can engage in a free market system without accepting permanent imbalance. And it can pursue prosperity that strengthens, rather than undermines, national security.

That is the promise of the 2026 Trade Agreement.