There is a popular Americanism: “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, meaning that if your adversaries are doing something better than you, you’re better off doing what they do, even if you don’t agree with it, instead of complaining about them.

This is what is happening with US industrial policy. After years of berating China (and before it, Japan and occasionally, Europe) for allegedly gaining unfair trade advantages by massively subsidising their domestic industries, the United States has decided to do just that.