Originally published in Law & Liberty
In 2022, then-President Joseph Biden invoked the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that gives the president the authority to direct domestic industry in the name of national defense, to increase the supply of baby formula available to Americans. Three years later, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and associated products in the name of America’s national security. How did baby formula and kitchen cabinets come to be considered as crucial parts of America’s security? Andrew Preston’s important book, Total Defense, provides an answer to this question.
