The race for innovation is back and China is on our heels. Instead of pushing disadvantageous antitrust legislation, lawmakers should be finding ways to support and strengthen American innovation to ensure we stay on top of China for the sake of our economy and safety. China is jumping at the opportunity, and our technology sector is on the frontlines of the competition with China, from advancing artificial intelligence to encrypting cloud computing.
Tech companies, including Apple, Google and Microsoft, are keeping the United States ahead and protected from Chinese threats. These companies know their Chinese competitors well and are going above and beyond to ensure they not only stay ahead but protect American consumers and their data. However, their success, which can be attributed to our healthy and free marketplace, is at risk of being suffocated by unnecessary federal government regulations. Congress is considering a package of antitrust proposals. They claim these proposals are necessary to foster innovation and better protect consumers, but in reality, they will handicap American companies and open the door for Chinese companies to bypass and compromise American tech.
Julio Fuentes is president of the Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
The American Innovation and Online Choice Act (S.2992) seeks to give federal agencies authority to issue injunctions and civil penalties to online marketplaces for violations such as giving preference to their own products on their platform or limiting the availability on the platform of competing products from other businesses. The Open App Markets Act (S.2710) aims to restrict app stores’ control over app developers by providing alternatives to commissioned in-app payment systems and alternative ways for consumers to download applications. Both bills only apply to and hurt American companies and give China and other foreign companies a fast pass to the top of the food chain.
A group of former top U.S. national security officials sent a letter to Congress over the national security implications of both bills urging lawmakers to stop and think before breaking up U.S. tech companies that are critical to maintaining America’s technological edge. Robert O’Brien, former national security advisor to President Donald Trump, said that “of the top 20 tech companies in the world, 10 are Chinese — thus for private U.S. corporations to stay competitive with Chinese state-funded firms … they can’t be weighed down by rules and regulations that only affect them and not foreign entities.” China is coming for American tech from all angles, and weakness on any front will allow a breakthrough.
At a panel in March 2022, Sen. Rick Scott said, “I’ve been warning my colleagues that communist China has chosen — they’ve chosen — to be our enemy and that we have entered into a new cold war with Beijing.” Sen. Marco Rubio has commented that, “The greatest threat facing America today — it is the challenge that will define not just this century but my generation and every generation. … The threat that will define this century is China … we will need a whole-of-society — not just government — whole-of-society effort to match them.”
Rubio and Scott both clearly understand the threat China poses and how important it is for the United States to stay a step ahead. They must not forget how dangerous Chinese dominance would be for Americans when voting on S.2992 and S.2710. Voting “yes” to either bill would be going against their own words and turning their backs on U.S. technology companies and American consumers. Both senators must vote “no” for the sake of national security and safety from serious Chinese threats.
Julio Fuentes is the President and CEO of the Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 604,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in Florida that annually contribute more than $90 billion to our state economy.
Comments