Targeted industrial policy revival

The article argues for state co-financing to scale production in strategic sectors and cites DoD’s direct investment, loans, and price-floor contracts—textbook sector-specific industrial policy to build capacity.

Equity-for-subsidy under the CHIPS Act is a deepening of sector-specific incentives to build strategic manufacturing capacity; it changes the instrument mix from grants/tax credits to partial ownership, affecting accountability and firm behavior.

By emphasizing China’s concrete, sector-specific innovation strengths, the review implies U.S. competitiveness requires focused, sectoral strategies (chips, advanced manufacturing) rather than generic assumptions—aligning with calls for targeted industrial policy to counter China.

The article praises phased semiconductor tariffs and emphasizes rebuilding the defense industrial base, directly reflecting a revival of sector-specific incentives to onshore strategic manufacturing.

The article contests tariff-first approaches and implicitly challenges subsidy- and incentive-led sector strategies (e.g., CHIPS/IRA), arguing regulatory rollback is the superior lever for restoring strategic manufacturing capacity—speaking directly to how industrial policy should be designed.

New tariffs on semiconductor chips (and steel) reflect sector-specific trade protection to bolster strategic manufacturing capacity—an instrument within the broader revival of targeted industrial policy.

The discussion centers on rebuilding the defense industrial base and shifting to scalable production of munitions and drones, directly aligning with sector-specific state support to build strategic manufacturing capacity amid great-power competition.

Krueger’s claim that import substitution 'probably cut growth rates in half' serves as a caution against broad protectionism and informs today’s push for more surgical, export-oriented industrial policy; it frames what modern industrial strategies must avoid as governments revive sector-specific support.

The piece endorses using tariffs and labor-conditional market access to reduce deficits and induce domestic manufacturing investment, aligning with a revival of state-shaped industrial strategy rather than laissez-faire trade; it highlights USMCA’s labor mechanisms as part of leveling conditions for industrial rebuilding.

The piece evaluates early indicators (nonresidential fixed investment, manufacturing structures/equipment, PMI, and greenfield FDI) to judge whether tariff-led policy is fostering onshore manufacturing—directly engaging the question of whether a revived industrial policy is translating into real-economy buildout.

The episode argues tariffs are "realigning incentives" and may spur a wave of domestic investment as rates stabilize via trade deals—an explicit claim that trade tools are being used to catalyze strategic manufacturing capacity, consistent with modern targeted industrial policy.

The piece cites ‘Make in India’ and liberal use of industrial policy as central to India’s next industrialization steps.

The article advocates a sector-specific national strategy—turning Canada into 'America’s pharmacy'—to capitalize on U.S. pricing rules, blending regulatory alignment with industrial capacity building, a clear instance of state-led industrial policy oriented to a strategic sector (pharma) and a specific export market (the U.S.).

Lu Feng’s 'industrial maximalism' explicitly argues China should expand manufacturing capacity despite overcapacity accusations, reinforcing sector-focused state support and subsidies that exemplify renewed, targeted industrial policy.