Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. | AP Photo Treasury secretary Lew rejects Trump's world view

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is forcefully rejecting Donald Trump's "America first" philosophy to world affairs, arguing in an essay published on Monday that the United States would be ill-advised to pay heed to the isolationist tendencies that have cropped up throughout its history and during the ongoing presidential campaign.

Remarking upon Congress' vote last December authorizing emerging economies like India and China to have more of a voice in the International Monetary Fund in exchange for more congressional oversight, Lew wrote for Foreign Affairs that the five-year wait in implementation on the part of Congress speaks to the "historical ambivalence of the United States toward global engagement."


Though none of the candidates are mentioned by name, Lew's piece sends an unmistakable message, particularly to Trump, whose "America first" line has captured a nationalist sentiment throughout the primary process.

"Clear rules for global economic relations create opportunities and incentives to innovate, invest, and work—the critical drivers of economic progress," Lew wrote. "History shows that the absence of a durable framework not only squanders untapped potential during good times but also creates grave risks during turbulent times. The breakdown of international cooperation in the 1930s—when countries took unilateral actions to secure short-term parochial advantages to the detriment of others—perpetuated the Great Depression."

The Bretton Woods system of international monetary cooperation that emerged after World War II, Lew continued, demonstrates how international cooperation has delivered for the U.S. over the last 70 years. "After the war, the United States accounted for the dominant share of global GDP and nearly all of the world’s hard currency reserves. Today, it accounts for less than a quarter of global GDP. Yet U.S. leadership has endured, in part because American principles and values are embedded in the international economic framework," Lew remarked. "The United States has encouraged other countries to have a stake in the success of this system and a voice in how it is managed, so that its institutions continue to meet the needs of a transforming global economy."

On an international level, Lew wrote, the "ongoing agenda for U.S. leadership encompasses a broad range of global priorities, which will not end with the current administration." In detailing how it will not, Lew noted ongoing modernization efforts with the IMF, strengthening of the World Bank, reforming the international financial regulatory system, cracking down on terrorist financing and expanding cooperation with emerging markets.

Lew also wrote the U.S.' relationship with China, a country with which Trump has indicated displeasure over trade deficits, is "uniquely important to advancing shared prosperity, maintaining a constructive global economic order, and making progress on existential challenges such as climate change."

Ticking off a list of administration achievements over the last year within the global economy, Lew noted the IMF vote, trade promotion authority, and the re-authorization of the Export-Import Bank.

"The United States reached agreement with its international partners on the TPP, a landmark climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and an expanded strategy to stop terrorist financing. But the United States cannot take its global role for granted," he continued, urging a continuation of that work. "It must continue to ask whether its actions—and inactions—enhance its capacity to maintain this preeminent leadership role in the future."