Joe Biden by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
A coalition of 30 center-right groups and activists organized by Americans for Tax Reform released a letter opposing the Biden administration’s surrender on digital trade rules.
Click here to read the letter or see below:
Dear Chairman Smith:
We write in opposition to the Biden administration’s decision to surrender leadership on digital trade rules to China. Left unchecked, these policies will damage the American economy and undermine American economic leadership abroad.
Thank you for your strong leadership on this issue. We stand ready to support your efforts to push back against the Biden administration’s recklessness in this area.
American ingenuity and leadership largely created the modern digital economy as we know it. American innovation is responsible for adding $2.3 trillion to the nation’s economy and supports 18.2 million American jobs. This has contributed to American economic and technological leadership becoming the envy of the world, particularly to governments that have crippled their own technology companies through crushing regulations and heavy-handed, authoritarian approaches to the internet. Unfortunately, this leadership has come under assault by allies and adversaries alike, who actively discriminate against U.S. companies and aggressively pursue a walled-off digital economy.
The European Union has advanced its so-called “digital sovereignty” agenda to the detriment of American companies. Laws like the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act are explicitly designed to treat American companies like a piggy bank to the tune of tens of billions of dollars per year. American innovation is paying to fill the coffers of unelected European bureaucrats.
The EU’s wrongheaded approach is a direct giveaway to China. A recent Center for Strategic and International Studies survey of five-hundred European firms found that nearly 20 percent believe cost increases from increased EU regulation on U.S. digital services providers would cause them to likely change to cheaper Chinese technology.
Instead of standing up for American companies, the Biden administration works hand in glove with progressive activists to cripple them. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai recently announced that she is dropping longstanding U.S. digital trade demands in talks with the World Trade Organization. Tai’s move, which blindsided the White House, was swiftly denounced by members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that rightfully see it as further proof that USTR is abandoning its mandate to advocate for U.S. companies and is instead ceding digital leadership to adversaries. This is part and parcel with FTC Commissioner Lina Khan sending staff to collude with European bureaucrats on DMA implementation.
Amid an era of intense technological competition, the Biden administration should start standing up for its leading industries abroad instead of actively undermining them. Anything less is a giveaway to Communist China, Russia, and other countries that are gleeful at the opportunity to thwart American innovation.
Sincerely,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
Jim Martin
Founder and Chairman, 60+ Association
Sauilus “Saul” Anuzis
President, 60+ Association
Dick Patten
President, American Business Defense Council
Tirzah Duren
Director of Tech Policy, American Consumer Institute
Richard Manning
President, Americans for Limited Government
Brent Wm. Gardner
Chief Government Affairs Officer, Americans for Prosperity
Phil Kerpen
President, American Commitment
Bob Carlstrom
President, Association of Mature American Citizens
Daniel J. Mitchell
President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Tanner Avery
Director, Center for New Frontiers (Frontier Institute)
Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy, Committee for Justice
Iain Murray
Vice President of Strategy, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Gerard Scimeca
Chairman, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy
Tom Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
James Erwin
Executive Director, Digital Liberty
Adam Brandon
President, FreedomWorks
George Landrith
President, Frontiers of Freedom
Dr. Edward J. Longe
Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation, James Madison Institute
Charles Sauer
President, Market Institute
Brandon Arnold
Executive Vice President, National Taxpayers Union
Doug Kellogg
Executive Director, Ohioans for Tax Reform
Jonathan Small
President, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Tom Hebert
Executive Director, Open Competition Center
Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director, Property Rights Alliance
Karen Kerrigan
President, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
David Williams
President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Jenny Beth Martin
Honorary Chairman, Tea Party Patriots Action
Dr. Steven J. Allen
Vice Chairman, The Conservative Caucus
Casey Given
Executive Director, Young Voices