Marco Rubio a Shoo-in for Secretary of State; Talks Trade as Key Component of China Strategy

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) will be confirmed as Secretary of State. He had very little pushback in his confirmation hearing among his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with the Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) saying, “I believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve as Secretary of State.”

Even Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) signaled Rubio was a perfect pick. “This is a nominee who is extremely well prepared. Senator Rubio has a very well developed sense of the world. I am particularly happy that he was nominated,” he said.

Out of the triumphalism of the end of the long Cold War emerged a bi-partisan consensus that we had reached the end of history. That all the nations of earth would become members of the democratic Western led community. That a foreign policy that served the national interest could now be replaced by one that served the liberal world order. And that all mankind was now destined to abandon national identity, and we would become one human family and citizens of the world. This wasn’t just a fantasy; it was a dangerous delusion. Here in America, and in many of the advanced economies across the world, an almost religious commitment to free and unfettered trade at the expense of our national economy, shrunk the middle class, left the working class in crisis, collapsed industrial capacity, and pushed critical supply chains into the hands of adversaries and rivals.

– Sen. Marco Rubio, written testimony before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State confirmation hearing, Jan. 15, 2025

Rubio was solid, if not flawless in his hearing, receiving praise from both parties.

As a Senator on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rubio has been one of the only members to single out trade relations with China as a top concern. While many in both houses of Congress often frame the China debate as one of war preparation, or lighting up the load of tariffs in hopes of receiving something in return, Rubio has steadfastly highlighted the importance of trade as the key source of the power imbalance between the two sides.

When Sen. Pete Rickets (R-NE) asked him if he saw China as our biggest threat, he did so juxtaposed with the Israel-Palestine war; the Russia-Ukraine war; and China’s military growth. Rubio said those things were important to consider, but protecting American critical industries was just as important.

“The Chinese believe that we are in an inevitable decline and that they are on the rise. But this is because of our own actions; we allowed them for years to cheat on trade, and benefit from us on global commerce. And for years no one talked about this,” Rubio said. “When you add the human rights component to it, we also allowed them to use slave labor. We are dealing with those ramifications today. Much of what we need to do about China is here at home. We need to rebuild industrial capacity and make sure we are not relying on any other nation for critical supply chains,” he warned, adding, “if we stay on the road we are now, in less than 10 years virtually everything we rely on – from the blood pressure medication we import to the movies we get to watch – will depend on China.”

Rubio was asked for his thoughts on a number of foreign policy matters – from Ukraine and U.S. involvement in NATO, to Venezuela. But China got the most attention.

He told Sen. John Barrosso (R-WY) that the U.S. needed to strike a balance with China or face rising geopolitical tensions that will likely lead to destabilization in the world economy. He said Beijing has to be made to understand that the U.S. seeks to “avoid being too dependent on China. Much of what is happening now in our relationship with them is due to what we are not doing here at home, like building a modern economy,” he said.

“During President Trump’s first term, American strength was a deterrent to our adversaries and gave us leverage in diplomacy. There were no new wars, ISIS was eviscerated, Soleimani was dead, the historic Abraham Accords were born, and Americans were safer as a result. Now President Trump returns to office with an unmistakable mandate from the voters. They want a strong America. Engaged in the world, but guided by a clear objective, to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home... The top priority of the State Department must be and will be the United States.”

Mexico got its fair share of attention.

“Mexico’s economy is vibrant and continues to be a strong regional power, but they can be frustrating for us because they have a non aligned foreign policy in their constitution,” Rubio said about Mexico working with countries that are counter to American interests.

Rubio told Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) that the main problems with Mexico are trade relations and the border.

“The way we need to work with them first is on trade; there are a number of violations, especially for us in Florida with agriculture,” he said. “The other problem is border control. Most of those people crossing the border are not Mexicans. Lots of Mexicans are actually angry about these migrant crossings.”

Rubio said the drug cartels were instrumental in the border crisis. If the Trump administration gets its way, cartels like Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa could go the way of the Medellin and Cali cartels of Colombia in the next four years.

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) asked if designating Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations was a good idea.

“Designating them a foreign terrorist group stops them from having access to the U.S. banking system,” Rubio said. The cartels already face this due to Biden’s sanctions earlier this year.

Rubio preferred calling them criminal enterprises.

“Their business is the trafficking of people, drugs, and migrants. Sadly, they also have operational control over huge swaths of our border region,” he said. “It is important for us to go after these groups.”

Rubio said military force was an option, but that was not a State Department call.

“I think there is a lot we can do with Mexico, and I think there is more that they can do, too. My preference is that we work on this matter with Mexico cooperatively to take these groups out,” he said.

Many articles have been written about Rubio’s opening salvo in the hearing, where his critique of pre-Trump way of running U.S. foreign policy often prioritized the international global order above national interests.

“Other nations continued to act the way countries always have and always will, in what they perceive to be in their best interest,” he said, adding that “placing our core national interests above all else is not isolationism. It is the common sense realization that a foreign policy centered on our national interest is not some outdated relic.”

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