In response to President Trump’s unilateral 10% tariff on goods from China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered with a jab at the American president, “This move cannot solve the U.S.’s problems at home.” 

Those problems, which Trump was elected to fix – inflation, the rising cost of living, a national debt of $36 trillion, fueled in part by the increasing animosity between the U.S. and China – stand between this administration and a legacy akin to World War II’s mobilization of American industry.

China’s formal response to the U.S.’s opening volley– targeting LNG and oil, and machinery – was expected. But the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) also included export controls on critical minerals including tungsten, molybdenum, and indium – all commonly used in U.S. defense manufacturing.  

For example, tungsten is used for artillery shells and as an alloy to pierce armor. China controls 80% of the world’s supply. Molybdenum is used as an alloy in high-temperature environments, including missiles. China is the world’s largest producer. And indium is used in high-altitude instruments, such as those found in stealth aircraft. China is the leading producer, controlling 70% of the market.

Combined with December’s export control on gallium – used in semiconductors, of which again China dominates 98% of the market – the People’s Republic of China is slowly choking the U.S. defense industrial base. Which is exactly Xi Jinping’s intent. The United States must get serious about China’s market manipulation. A targeted pollution tariff is part of the solution. 

Unlike the steel dumping that has ignited various trade wars over the past decade, China’s pollution dumping erases global pollution curbs instituted by a majority of nations. A U.S. pollution tariff would cripple one of China’s largest emerging industries, green technology, depriving the PRC’s economy of much-needed revenue. 

The Biden administration’s efforts to cajole China into fair trade, or even adhere to its hallmark issue of a meaningful climate agreement, failed miserably. This Trump administration has an opportunity to change the trajectory of the PRC’s ambitions.

While broad-based tariffs can be potentially unpopular, targeted tariffs that “level the playing field,” particularly those that penalize China, find overwhelming support from the American public. According to a recent CBS News/YouGov poll, 56% of Americans support tariffs on China, and a pollution tariff gets overwhelming GOP support: 90% of Republicans are on board.

The PRC’s predatory trade practices are well-known and well-documented. China has enjoyed two decades of market manipulation without consequence, all while growing its exports of low-cost, environmentally high-impact products. That revenue, a majority of which is paid for by U.S. consumers, has allowed the PRC to pour hundreds of millions into new naval ships, satellites, and space exploration, and perhaps most significantly, into the building of a new blast-proof military base – tantamount to the U.S.’s North American Aerospace Defense Command, more commonly known as NORAD. Without any nation or international body willing to corral China’s continued affronts to international order, China’s malign behavior, and ambitions, will remain unabated unless President Trump acts.

Language to codify a pollution tariff is working its way through both chambers of Congress, including the “Foreign Pollution Fee Act” from Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham. The bill would impose fees on imported goods based on their pollution intensity. “It leverages America’s comparative advantage in environmental performance to rein in state-owned enterprises and weaken their control of global supply chains in key industrial sectors,” they say.

Initial estimates from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget forecast such a move would raise $100 billion over 10 years. Or put another way, 10% of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) goal. 

Conversely, a pollution tariff would deprive the PRC of approximately $115 billion over that same period – $115 billion that could not be spent on munitions, hypersonics and energetics, or other next-generation weapons of war.

The Treasury and Commerce Departments, working alongside the National Security Council (NSC) and Congress on this issue, would form a powerful united front. When asked during his confirmation hearing about pollution tariffs on China – which is responsible for more than 30% of all global emissions – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated, “I think this is a very interesting idea. It could be part of an entire tariff program.”

Such an offense would defang the PRC economically, as well as penalize China for its cavalier approach to global trade policies. It would also provide common ground for allies and partners to court the new American president, especially those in Europe and the Global South. 

The battle for hearts and minds over tariffs is in full swing. The nature of this debate demonstrates that national security is no longer the domain of a few, led by the military and policy wonks sequestered within the walls of the Pentagon. Today, national security is intrinsically tied to economic security and trade. This interdependency has broken down long-established silos. 

Not everything is “national security” and should not be treated as such. Real threats become diluted when “everything” is national security. There is a balancing act to be performed. Utilizing such a novel idea as a pollution tariff would demonstrate to Xi Jinping that not only is the second Trump administration better prepared this time around, but is serious about the threat China poses and will use all tools at its disposal to level the playing field. 

Amy K. Mitchell is a former senior official at the Departments of State and Defense.