With the return of Donald Trump to the US presidency in January 2025, Boschiero’s analysis of US trade policy developed initially during Trump’s first administration is certainly timely. The book’s thesis is that “all current discussions regarding the WTO’s future are unimaginable without first considering the US trade agenda” (at 4). While an unremarkable argument, the book makes a valuable contribution by synthesising the primary elements of US trade policy to contextualise US criticisms of the WTO and illustrate the challenges US actions pose to the WTO.

The book argues that the United States views trade as a “zero-sum” game and therefore requires viewing economic growth through the lens of national security and pursuing such growth via aggressive enforcement of trade laws. To illustrate this argument, the book analyses trade enforcement actions under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, with an emphasis on actions against China. It then evaluates US reasons for these actions, including reasons relating to how the WTO’s Appellate Body has interpreted trade remedy agreements, before probing the complexities that the section 232 actions create for managing security-related concerns within the WTO’s legal framework.

The main strength of the book is its holistic treatment of the section 232 actions. Through a detailed evaluation of US claims that the actions were required to address national security threats resulting from excess capacity of steel and aluminium, the book brings together the sometimes too-separate discussions on motivations for unilateral trade actions and repercussions for the WTO. By linking the US approach to not only its concerns about China but also its criticisms of the Appellate Body, especially its interpretation of trade remedy provisions, the book provides scholars and policymakers a means of better understanding the US approach to trade.

The primary shortcoming of the book lies in its structure. Although the reason that the book focuses on section 232 enforcement actions gradually becomes clear, this reason is never expressly stated. Due to a lack of initial clarity, how the book progresses occasionally feels somewhat arbitrary. For instance, while the overall narrative links section 232 actions to debates about subsidy control, trade remedies, and the Appellate Body, the detailed treatment of section 301 actions is puzzling. Section 301 actions certainly implicate US policy towards China, but US allegations of economic espionage and forced technology transfer do not fit well with the book’s larger narrative, which may be why it largely abandons discussion of these actions after the initial chapters. Similarly, some sections blend objective and normative arguments without a clear indication of why the normative aspect is relevant, which can distract from the persuasiveness of the objective arguments. Finally, the book assumes the reader has substantial knowledge about US–China competition and the WTO crises. Coupled with the structural challenges, this book is likely not for the uninitiated reader.

Overall, however, the book is a welcome addition to debates on how to understand US trade policy and consequences for the multilateral trade system. Indeed, with the Trump administration pursuing an even more aggressive approach to unilateral trade action that spares no trade partner, the book is more relevant than ever.