Abstract
This Article examines the evolving tension between national security and economic globalization in U.S. foreign trade and investment regulation. Using the TikTok controversy as a focal point, it argues that American trade regulation has undergone a decisive transformation—from promoting international integration to prioritizing the protection of strategic technologies, data, and supply chains against perceived adversaries, particularly China. The analysis traces this shift from early tariff legislation, through the liberalizing trade era of the mid-twentieth century, to recent measures such as the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 and President Biden’s executive orders on inbound and outbound investment. The Article situates the TikTok litigation within this broader evolution, showing how CFIUS reviews, expanded export controls, and national emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act have redefined the balance between open markets and security imperatives. It contends that the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision upholding TikTok’s divestiture marks a watershed in the constitutional and policy limits of economic statecraft, reflecting a new paradigm in which U.S. commercial regulation functions not merely as an economic tool, but as an instrument of strategic defense.
Recommended Citation
Xuemao Zhang,
The Clash of Security and Commerce: Analyzing the Impact of U.S. Foreign Trade and Investment Regulations Through the Lens of the TikTok Controversy,
45
Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus.
461
(2025).
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njilb/vol45/iss3/5
