Please register for the event here. You will receive a confirmation email with further information on May 12, 2025.

About the panel discussion 

The Trump administration has embraced an industrial policy that uses tariffs as a tool to strengthen domestic resilience and national security. While this approach is framed by its supporters as a long-term investment in economic sovereignty, it has raised concerns in Germany – particularly regarding trade disruptions, supply chains, and the future of the transatlantic alliance. DiPlacido will discuss why the trade deficit is a problem and explain why American conservatives are rethinking economic orthodoxy.

Mark DiPlacido is policy advisor at American Compass, anew but influential think tank of the New Right that, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “is doing as much or more to shape the national conversation and our economic policy than Washington’s largest think tanks.”Before joining American Compass, DiPlacido served as deputy policy director for the Ron DeSantis presidential campaign. He has prior experience at the Heritage Foundation, on Capitol Hill, and in the office of the US Trade Representative. 

This is the first event in the new series Remaking America? Contesting Visions from Trump and Beyond, a cooperation between DGAP and the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (SCRIPTS) at Freie Universität Berlin. The series features leading thinkers, scholars, and policy voices from the United States who assess the emerging ideas and factions reshaping American democracy and foreign policy and their consequences for Germany and Europe. After the panel discussion, there will be an opportunity to socialize over drinks and snacks.

Discussant:
Mark Hallerberg, Dean of Research and Faculty und Professor of Public Management and Political Economy at theHertie School; Co-Deputy Director of SCRIPTS 

Welcoming Remarks and Moderator:
Rachel Tausendfreund, Senior Fellow for USA/Transatlantic Relations, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)

Visit the event

• If you want to participate, please register here.
• The event is online accessible via Zoom.
• If you have any questions, please contact events@dgap.org. We look forward to your participation and a lively discussion.