small-logo
ProfessionalsCapabilitiesInsights & NewsCareersLocations
About UsAlumniOpportunity & InclusionPro BonoCorporate Social Responsibility
Stay Connected:
facebookinstagramlinkedintwitteryoutube

Government Contracts & National Security Policies

Government Contracts & National Security Policies

Throughout the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Winston monitored the presidential candidates’ policy positions related to government contracts and national security. 

Visit Winston & Strawn’s Transition Period Update for timely insights on the pivotal steps shaping the path forward for the Trump/Vance administration. 

Disclaimer: This page is strictly dedicated to providing public information on the candidates’ policy positions and in no way indicates an affiliation with any political party or candidate.

Kamala Harris
derived from Biden-Harris Administration priorities

Key international trade and foreign policy objectives for a Harris Administration are addressed below – assuming that a Harris Administration will track the Biden-Harris Administration’s objectives. Where information is available on Vice President Harris’ position, we note it.

  • The Biden-Harris Administration’s position on China is well briefed. As a result of the November 15, 2023 meeting with President Xi Jinping, the Administration provided a readout of priorities for the next few years. Specifically, President Biden called for the resumption of bilateral cooperation to combat global illicit drug manufacturing and trafficking including for synthetic drugs like fentanyl. The meeting also resulted in a commitment to resume high level military-to-military communications. In addition, both leaders agreed there is a risk of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and a need for AI safety protocols that can be achieved through bilateral discussions.
  • During the November 15 meeting, Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Indo-Pacific allies, freedom of navigation and overflight, and stability of the South and East China Seas.
  • Also addressed during the November 15 meeting was the United States’ commitment to human rights and People’s Republic of China human rights abuses. We would continue to expect enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act under any Administration.
  • Finally, during the meeting, the President raised the United States’ commitment to continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine our own national security. We expect to see a continued focus on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and outbound investment into China. The Department of Defense, as a result of the NDAA passed in December, also has become active in this space by publishing an updated CMC list on January 31, 2024.
  • We expect that a Harris Administration will track the Biden Administration’s first term policies with respect to China. Harris has spoken about protecting American interests, emphasizing the need for rule of law, reliance on multilateralism – all the while maintaining open lines of communication with Chinese leadership. The latter was expressed during her 2022 meeting with President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit.
  • Harris also has been critical of China’s claims to the East and South China Seas and, through an August 24, 2021 press release, specifically addressed the 2016 arbitral tribunal decision rejecting China’s claims to the South China Sea.
  • As Vice President, Harris has publicly discussed the need to curb Chinese influence. She also supported the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen American manufacturing and supply chains and counter China. The CHIPS and Science Act specifically focuses on investment in American chips and semiconductor manufacturing, which are key to many industries in America. The U.S. currently relies heavily on China to source these components. These components are also key to expanding clean-energy technologies meant to fight climate change, which is a priority for Harris. We can expect Harris to continue to support American manufacturing and supply chains in an effort to lessen reliance on China and continue to promote clean technologies in the U.S. 

  • As vice president, Harris has prioritized forging relationships with foreign leaders. She has also become involved with the U.S. State Department and attended high-profile events with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Moreover, she has voiced her support for Ukraine as it continues to fight Russia. She has also reiterated the U.S’. commitment to the transatlantic NATO alliance with Europe.

  • As part of the growing trade war with China under the current Administration, President Biden’s Administration announced its intent to raise tariffs on clean energy goods from China. In particular, Chinese EVs will face quadrupled tariffs. The action, according to the Administration, is a result of the U.S. Trade Representative’s four year review relating to Chinese unfair trade practices including forced technology transfer and restrictions and intellectual property theft. The White House also announced that the tariff rate will double to 50 percent on solar cell imports from China. In addition, Section 301 tariff will increase to 25 percent (triple the current level) on certain steel and aluminum imports from China.

  • President Biden made it clear that a second term would continue his focus on achieving net-zero emissions, economy wide by 2050. Given Harris’ focus on the environment, we expect she will continue the focus under her Administration. It is worth noting that her opposition to USMCA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership were largely based on her concerns that there were not sufficient environmental protection measures to address climate change. 

  • Beginning with the Barbados Agreement, signed on October 17, 2023, President Biden has supported rolling back sanctions on Venezuela – but with the understanding that they can be “snapped back” if the Maduro Administration fails to abide by the conditions. The State Department supported the Agreement although the United States was not a participant. Since then, in response to the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s decision not to allow opposition candidates, the U.S. Administration has warned that some of the general licenses may not be renewed. The licenses issued as a result of the Barbados Agreement included authorizations to engage in transactions with the Venezuelan-state owned PdVSA. While the Biden Administration has engaged in some prisoner exchanges, it also has continued to impose sanctions on persons in Venezuela involved in narcotics trafficking and human rights abuses. The expected focus for the next term will continue to be on ties between the Governments of Venezuela and Iran (like the recent EMTRASUR case). For example, on February 12, 2024, the Justice Department announced the completion of the final order for forfeiture of the U.S. manufactured Boeing 747, previously owned by Mahan Air and sold to the Government of Venezuela.
  • We anticipate that the Department of Justice (regardless of Administration) will continue to prosecute Venezuela-corruption related cases, as well.
  • There is significant focus on the July 28, 2024 election results in Venezuela where it appeared that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez was set to win in a land slide. President Maduro’s announcement of his victory has resulted in Vice President Harris’ call for an immediate release of polling data. Further, on July 30, 2024, she announced on X that the United States stands with the Venezuelan people. The request for voting data was made first by President Biden and Brazilian President Lula da Silva.

  • The Administration continues to support humanitarian trade with Iran, including the release of frozen funds for use in the acquisition of humanitarian goods for Iran.
  • With respect to the Red Sea and Iran’s support for the Houthis and the attacks on vessels, the Administration has ramped up sanctions implementation. The Administration re-sanctioned the Houthis as a terrorist organization on January 17, 2024 and identified entities and individuals supporting their efforts.
  • Vice President Harris is likely to continue the Biden Administration’s approach to Iran but with the addition of a focus on supporting more freedoms for Iranian women, as evidenced by her November 2, 2022 press release on Iran Protests and the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

  • On March 28, 2024, the Department of State announced a partnership with the Government of Mexico to explore diversification of the global semiconductor ecosystem under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund created under the CHIPS Act of 2022. Initial stages included a comprehensive assessment of Mexico’s existing semiconductor ecosystem and regulatory framework, as well as workforce and infrastructure needs.
  • The CHIPS Act was signed into law on August 9, 2023. The Act, which among other things, provides billions of dollars of federal financial assistance to semiconductor companies to construct, expand, and modernize semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the United States. We anticipate an impact on both the domestic industry and importation requirements in Section 337 investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
  • Beyond its impact on ITC investigations, the CHIPS Act will make it more difficult for semiconductor companies to invest in China. Any semiconductor company that receives federal financial assistance under the CHIPS Act must notify the Department of Commerce (Commerce) of any significant transactions involving the material expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in China. After reviewing the transaction, Commerce can either approve, mitigate, or block the transaction. In other words, much like how CFIUS currently reviews inbound foreign direct investment for national security risks and approves, mitigates, or blocks transactions, semiconductor companies will now have to negotiate an outbound investment screening process whenever they want to make certain investments in semiconductor manufacturing in China.

Key antitrust and competition policy objectives for a second Biden Administration include:

  • The Biden Administration has placed a consistent and heavy focus on the robust enforcement of the antitrust laws. Early in his presidency, Joe Biden signed his “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” announcing the “whole-of-government approach” to competition that has animated his presidency.
  • One key feature of this approach has been heightened cooperation between government agencies to tackle alleged anti-competitive behavior. Another important facet of antitrust enforcement under the Biden Administration has been agencies’ willingness to overhaul longstanding enforcement policies. Sometimes conducted in tandem by different agencies, this push has included intensive reviews of longstanding antitrust policies, the cancellation or adjustment of various programs, including safe harbor and compliance programs, and the issuing of new rules, including new federal merger guidelines.
  • During Joe Biden’s presidency, antitrust regulators have revived enforcement of long-dormant statutes. This has included charging criminal monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act and conducting Robinson-Patman Act investigations.
  • Biden-era antitrust regulation has focused especially on labor markets, large technology companies, pricing and consumer welfare, and the merger sector.
  • Under the leadership of FTC Chair Lina Khan, who was nominated by President Biden in 2021, and others, expansive antitrust enforcement has been a key focus of the Biden Administration. President Biden even highlighted antitrust enforcement a few times in his recent State of the Union address. A second Biden Administration would surely feature continued emphasis on the regulation of perceived anti-competitive behaviors.

  • The Biden Administration has repeatedly demonstrated that it places a high premium on protecting consumers from unfair and predatory pricing practices.
  • Throughout the Biden presidency, antitrust regulators have attacked the drug industry over allegedly unfair pricing behaviors, with a mixed track record of success.
  • During President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, he mentioned pricing-related efforts a few times, specifically mentioning his Administration’s commitment to combatting alleged price gouging, price-fixing, and “junk fees,” highlighting a variety of industries wherein he feels these problems loom particularly large.
  • The Biden Administration recently announced the formation of a new strike force, run jointly by the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, with a charge to focus on unfair and illegal pricing practices.

 

Updates From the June 2024 Debate
  • On the war in Ukraine, President Biden emphasized the need to continue to support Ukraine by supplying weaponry (as opposed to cash). He noted that Putin was a war criminal. He also emphasized the need to support NATO and to address the potential for Russia’s invasion of a NATO country.
  • On October 7 and the hostages, Biden says he has promoted a three-point plan which includes (1) trading hostages for a cease fire, (2) implementing the cease fire, and (3) engaging in reconstruction.
  • On the border and the fentanyl crisis, Biden addressed more security at the border and used the fentanyl screening machines as an example. He also mentioned the work that Mexico has committed to carrying out with respect to stopping fentanyl production.

Key Takeaways from Vice President Harris’ October 16 Fox News Interview

The October 16, 2024 Fox News interview with Vice President Harris highlighted a few points from a regulatory perspective. 

First, she made it clear that her Administration will strike a different path from that of President Biden’s. She has pledged to focus on addressing immigration and references continued efforts to prosecute the Mexican cartels – particularly with respect to fentanyl distribution.

Also of note from a national security perspective was her focus on Iran as a significant threat to national security and her unwavering support for Israel. Separately, she had indicated continued support for the Ukraine. One would expect that this translated to continued coalition style sanctions on the Russian Federation, continued focus on the Price Cap, and additional military and financial support for the Ukraine.

While not addressed during the interview, a review of Vice President Harris’ website provides additional insight into her foreign policy objectives. She highlights China and a need to continue to develop Indo Pacific economic and security partnerships. She also highlighted the importance of the relationship with South Korea – particularly in addressing the risks posed by North Korea. While there are not specifics on what those commitments would be mean from a regulatory perspective, one would presume a consistent approach to that under the Biden Administration with respect regional pacts and U.S. unilateral sanctions.

On the domestic front, Vice President Harris addressed her focus on supporting small business and increasing affordable housing. From her campaign website, she provides more details on her plans to address lower income housing needs. She states:

Vice President Harris has put forward a comprehensive plan to build three million more rental units and homes that are affordable to end the national housing supply crisis in her first term. And she will cut red tape to make sure we build more housing faster and penalize firms that hoard available homes to drive up prices for local homebuyers. Vice President Harris knows rent is too high and will sign legislation to outlaw new forms of price fixing by corporate landlords.

In addressing small business support, her website explains that as part of her Opportunity Economy agenda, she has a goal of 25 million new business applications by the end of her first term. To help achieve this, she proposes expanding the startup expense tax deduction for new businesses from $5,000 to $50,000.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s key international trade and foreign policy objectives for a second Trump Administration include:

  • We anticipate this will include a focus on trade sanctions (enhanced focus on the Kingpin Act and the Global Magnitsky sanctions both for designations and enforcement). Candidate Trump has indicated he will also consider use of the Foreign Terrorist Organization statute to target cartels. In a similar fashion, we would expect the financial sector will be on heightened alert for money laundering and corruption for cross-border trade and financial services.  

  • In addition to sanctions on the cartels, it appears that a second Trump Administration will focus on dismantling human trafficking rings. Based on past precedent under prior administrations, we anticipate a focus on financial institutions for enhanced due diligence on cross border transactions and Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) filings.

  • A second Trump Administration has expressed an interest in competing with China through energy independence. Specifically, Trump is proposing domestic drilling for both oil and natural gas. The focus will be domestic supply but also becoming a net exporter of natural gas. With a focus on domestic production, and depending on how elections in Venezuela proceed, we may see additional sanctions on Venezuela and its state-owned oil company PdVSA.
  • A second Trump Administration is proposing total independence from China for public health. To accomplish this, the candidate is proposing to phase in tariffs and import restrictions to encourage the development of a manufacturing capacity in the United States for medicines. To this end, he has proposed to restore Executive Order 13944 (August 6, 2020). In addition to a “Buy America” provision, the Order required the U.S. Trade Representative to modify U.S. international trade agreements so that drugs deemed “essential” to public health by the FDA cannot be purchased by federal agencies from any of the trade ally countries that has a trade agreement with the U.S. that authorizes the manufacture for the U.S. market.

  • In response to the Biden Administration’s May 14, 2024 announcement that increases tariffs on Chinese EVs, the Trump campaign has announced an intent to impose a 200 percent tax on every car that comes from Chinese manufacturing facilities in Mexico. The focus on Mexican manufacturing facilities arises from Chinese automaker BYD’s scouting trip to Mexico to identify locations for factories. The move is designed to avoid import tariffs that apply where cars are manufactured in China.

  • A second Trump Administration will likely again exit the Paris Climate Accords. 

  • A second Trump Administration is proposing securing United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) protections for American auto workers. Specifically, the candidate is proposing increasing the amount of regional (U.S., Canada, and Mexico) auto parts content in North American cars.
  • A second Trump Administration would impose a national tariff on foreign producers through a system of universal baseline tariffs on most imported goods. The candidate is calling this proposal the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act and would require Congressional legislation to implement.
  • The candidate also proposes terminating the CAFÉ fuel economy standards and stopping subsidies to Chinese electric vehicle battery companies under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Donald Trump’s antitrust and competition policy objectives for a second Trump Administration include:

  • As noted, the Biden Administration has made pricing practices a major focus of its antitrust enforcement efforts. Antitrust regulators have fought against price-fixing, “junk fees,” and various other arguably unfair and illegal pricing practices.
  • Pricing practices likely would not be a priority for antitrust regulators under a second Trump Administration. Under the Trump Administration, agencies like the DOJ and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were less focused on pricing-related consumer protection efforts than the Biden Administration has been. Moreover, during the Biden Administration, some Republicans have expressed strong opposition to the Administration’s efforts in this sphere. For example, in 2022, then-FTC Commissioner Christine S. Wilson, a Trump appointee, dissented from an FTC Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding junk fees. Similarly, Senator Tim Scott recently came out against CFPB rules limiting credit card fees.
  • Under the leadership of Chair Lina Khan, the FTC has been highly activist. Though some of the FTC’s actions have drawn support from certain congressional Republicans, including key Trump allies like Representative Matt Gaetz, the Khan FTC has overall been the subject of a great deal of conservative criticism, concern, and opposition.
  • For example, in 2021, shortly after Lina Khan became FTC Chair, a group of Republican legislators sent a letter and issued public statements criticizing the FTC for overreaching, diverging from the DOJ, and pushing a “leftist” agenda. In late 2022, the House Judiciary Committee began looking into the FTC’s probe of Twitter, and in 2023, the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the FTC for documents related to their Twitter investigation and called FTC Chair Lina Khan before the Committee for hours of questioning. In that and other congressional sessions over the past couple of years, various Republican legislators have broadly criticized the policies of the Khan FTC. In 2023, when Republican FTC Commissioner Christine S. Wilson left the FTC, she criticized Lina Khan’s policies in an op-ed and a letter.
  • Relatedly, the funding of the federal antitrust enforcement agencies has become an issue. In summer 2023, congressional Republicans threatened to cut the FTC’s budget by 25% due to its alleged “rank partisanship.” The agencies and President Biden have requested budget increases for 2025, even as Democratic pro-budget-increase legislators have raised the alarm about potential looming antitrust enforcement budget cuts.
  • It seems certain that a second Trump Administration would feature a less activist antitrust enforcement agenda, and that the FTC would walk back some of the actions it has taken under Chair Lina Khan. The FTC’s policies under a second Trump Administration will presumably depend largely upon who is chosen to lead the agency—and, potentially, on whether that individual is someone who trends more toward the populist segment of Donald Trump’s political base or more toward the more traditional pro-business segment of that base. If Donald Trump is elected, then, based on historical norms, at least one of the three current Democratic FTC commissioners will resign, allowing for a majority of Republican FTC commissioners.
Updates From the June 2024 Debate
  • Former President Trump expressed that China will be a focus for additional tariffs in order to reduce the trade deficit and create a more even playing field for trading partners.
  • On immigration, Trump has promised to close the border and to begin deporting immigrants who entered the country illegally. Tied in with the immigration crisis, Trump also addressed the fentanyl crisis.
  • On Iran, Trump would re-focus an aggressive foreign policy on reducing access to funds. Trump identifies Iran as a destabilizing force in the world and identified October 7, Yemen, Syria, and the Red Sea as examples.
  • On the war in Ukraine, Trump has said that ending the war should be a primary focus of European states and less a U.S. focus given geographic proximity of the former. Related to Ukraine, Trump referenced the WSJ reporter who has been held in the Russian Federation and proposed that he would work to obtain his release before inauguration day.

Jill Stein

Jill Stein’s key international trade and foreign policy objectives include:

  • Adjusting U.S. foreign policy to center it around human rights to oppose “violence, occupation, and apartheid”;
  • Bringing the military home; and
  • Calling for a cease fire in Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice decision.

Key Contacts

Key Contacts

Lawrence “Larry” Block

Partner

Washington, DC

Email

+1 202-282-5037

Cari Stinebower

Partner

Washington, DC

Email

+1 202-282-5788

Lawrence “Larry” Block

Cari Stinebower

Related Insights & News

Seminar/CLE
U.S. Election Insights Series

October 10, 2024 - October 22, 2024

Client Alert
June 2024 Presidential Debate: Key Policy Takeaways

July 10, 2024

Seminar/CLE
U.S. Election Insights Series
October 10, 2024 - October 22, 2024
Client Alert
June 2024 Presidential Debate: Key Policy Takeaways
July 10, 2024
Logo
facebookinstagramlinkedintwitteryoutube

Copyright © 2025. Winston & Strawn LLP

AlumniCorporate Transparency Act Task ForceDEI Compliance Task ForceEqual Rights AmendmentLaw GlossaryThe Oval UpdateWinston MinutePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyFraud & Scam AlertsNoticesSubscribeAttorney Advertising