In 2016, tariff man couldn’t care less about tech. Newly elected U.S. President Donald J. Trump knew that the people who created and ran America’s tech giants were richer and smarter than him. Moreover, they had different values. They embraced openness, accountability, and the rule of law in international affairs. Moreover, they generally advocated for increased immigration of skilled workers, open markets, and relatively unfettered cross-border data flows. Unsurprisingly, his first term was characterized by disputes with many tech giants, including Facebook and Amazon.
However, tech leaders and government officials had a common concern: China’s innovative tech firms. They saw Chinese companies’ growing prowess in data-driven technologies as a threat to America’s economic progress and national security. As Chinese companies (most visibly TikTok) gained market share, the Trump administration came to understand that protecting the competitiveness of data-driven sectors was imperative if America were to become “great again.” And in February 2019, Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 13859 on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. The executive order created the American AI Initiative to “focus the resources of the Federal government to develop AI in order to increase our Nation’s prosperity, enhance our national and economic security, and improve quality of life for the American people.” Moreover, his administration set the initial rules for U.S. government use and governance of AI. Finally, the Trump administration thought that the U.S. government could best counter China’s growing competitiveness in key technologies such as AI by limiting access to the essential components of the AI supply chain. Many of these policies were quietly lauded by America’s diverse tech sector.
