George Bogden | Reassessing U.S. Economic Strategy: The Trump Era and Beyond

The Moynihan Institute's Practice of Global Politics series presents George Bogden, senior counsel for trade at Continental Strategy.

This talk examines how the Trump administration’s economic policy marked a turning point in U.S. trade and industrial strategy. Rather than treating tariffs, export controls and investment screening as separate tools, the administration used them as interlocking instruments of national power—a framework that continues to shape current policy.

Drawing on first-hand experience in the Office of Trade Relations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Dr. Bogden will discuss the evolution of “America First” economic thinking, its intellectual origins, and its implications for future administrations. The session invites a balanced discussion about how strategic competition, domestic politics and global markets are reshaping the boundaries between trade and national security.

George E. Bogden serves as senior counsel for trade and tariff at Continental Strategy, where he advises on U.S. industrial, tariff and critical-minerals policy. Previously, he served as executive director of the Office of Trade Relations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and as a legal and research fellow with institutions including Columbia Law School, the Trilateral Commission and the German Marshall Fund.

He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a D.Phil. in international relations from the University of Oxford. His commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.