The Trump administration’s “friendfunding” approach uses tariff threats to steer allied money to US-controlled projects, promising an uncertain investment payoff while concentrating power in the executive branch and straining US alliances, particularly those with Japan and South Korea.

Created to mobilize American industry for war, the Defense Production Act has become a general-purpose tool of presidential economic intervention, allowing administrations of both parties to subsidize favored industries under an ever-expanding definition of national defense.