The United States Needs a Strategic Sector Visa

Thibault Denamiel and Catharine Mouradian, December 20, 2024

"Today’s era of strategic competition, anchored by the U.S.-China rivalry, requires a whole-of-government approach to economic security. Policies to de-risk critical supply chains, diversify sources of inputs away from Chinese dominance, and increase domestic production of key goods tackle ambitious goals, and the United States must consider every economic and trade step through the lens of competitiveness. The U.S. government has already employed a broad set of tools to prop up its strategic sectors: it has undertaken ambitious industrial policy packages, enacted targeted trade barriers, and expanded rules to curb transfers of critical technologies to entities of concern. Economic tools are now squarely serving national security interests. Immigration policy will be a key policy discussion point in 2025. Conservative decisionmakers have emphasized protective measures—from continuing to erect barriers on the U.S. southern border to mass deportation plans—and signaled some openness to legal pathways to entry. As the future Trump administration continues to work out the details of its immigration strategy, it would be worthwhile to consider how the issue can be viewed as an element of U.S. economic security. To that end, the United States should create a legal pathway for foreign job seekers in specific sectors critical to U.S. economic security. The United States needs a strategic sector visa."