What should come first, national security policy, or trade policy? This is an old debate, and one that should never paralyze a nation such as America. The Trump administration has actually made incredible progress thus far to protect and grow American industry. Well-structured and carefully thought-out trade initiatives have resulted in thousands of jobs being reshored, as well as a four-year high in manufacturing activity.
President Donald Trump understands that trade policy is national security policy, requiring a targeted and finely focused approach to maintain strength on both fronts. The administration has already put this approach in action by adjusting Section 232 tariffs on metals used in military equipment to protect national security while maintaining flexibility and fairness to both domestic and foreign producers. That same balanced approach is needed as the administration considers Section 232 tariffs on semiconductors.
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Semiconductor chips are the brains of modern defense systems, powering everything from precision-guided munitions and missile defense systems to military communications, satellites, radar, and the AI capabilities that will shape the next generation of military power. While onshoring semiconductor production capabilities into the U.S. should remain a top, long-term priority, the administration must recognize that many of these systems continue to rely on legacy chips not yet manufactured at sufficient scale in America. Maintaining reliable access to those components is essential to meeting today’s national security needs while domestic production ramps up.
If applied too broadly, semiconductor tariffs could exacerbate the very vulnerabilities the administration is looking to address. The semiconductor chip supply chain is a complex global ecosystem of chip fabrication, packaging, assembly, testing, and specialized materials that can’t be replicated overnight. Restricting access to this supply chain as domestic reshoring begins risks creating new bottlenecks across the defense industrial base.
Security concerns could soon become affordability concerns as well. Higher semiconductor costs mean higher costs for the defense systems, drones, and cybersecurity mainframes that our troops depend on. Every dollar lost to unnecessary procurement costs is a dollar not spent expanding military capability, accelerating innovation, and strengthening deterrence against China. That impact on cost ripples through the broader economy down to everyday people, who rely on the semiconductors that live inside vehicles, medical devices, and personal electronics.
China isn’t waiting for the U.S. to resolve its trade debates. It is moving aggressively to control access to critical minerals, expanding its own domestic semiconductor production, and accelerating investments in the technologies that will determine the next generation of military and economic leadership. If U.S. firms face higher input costs than their state-subsidized Chinese rivals, they’ll have less capital to make the critical investments our long-term edge depends on. Hastily applied tariffs meant to counter China could instead harm American competitiveness.
Tariffs, when done correctly, are built around achieving specific national security objectives. They have proven to be powerful when calibrated to the realities of the market, tied to defense-critical capability, and paired with policy choices that accelerate domestic production.
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This is not a case against tariffs — far from it. It is a case for getting them right. As the administration weighs Section 232 tariffs on semiconductors, Trump should see the big picture, consider the long-term implications, and ensure that potentially accelerated tariff parameters support reshoring without penalizing American producers or consumers before domestic capacity is at scale.
Trump has been right to put national security at the center of trade policy. The task now is to make sure those trade policies strengthen the national security mission.
Steven Bucci is a visiting fellow in the Phillip N. Truluck Center for Leadership Development.
