US Needs to Invest More in Emerging Tech to Compete With China, Senator Says

The U.S. needs to pour more resources into research and innovation of emerging technologies to boost commercialization and outpace Chinese technology development, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said. Blackburn advocated for a methodical decoupling from China, saying the U.S. needs to reshore manufacturing of critical technologies to help U.S. industries be more competitive in foreign markets.

“We have to realize that you can't just decouple from China and ‘say, all right, we're severing.’ It is more like an unraveling,” Blackburn said during an Aug. 5 talk hosted by the Hoover Institution. “Whether it is critical supply chains for semiconductor chips or telecommunications equipment … we have become too dependent on China for manufacturing, and we need to return that capability and capacity to the United States.”

The U.S. is not investing enough in research and development, she said, and needs to form better partnerships between universities and corporations. Blackburn said “technology is going to be the nexus for so many areas of growth,” adding that the military needs to better innovate to compete with China’s civil-military fusion (see 2007020035), specifically surrounding military applications for artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. “We have to acknowledge that our commercial sectors and our military sectors need to be innovating,” Blackburn said. “Our military complex needs to be utilizing the new concepts that are being pushed forward in the commercial area, so that we do not lose this race.”

While the U.S. needs to focus inward on incentivizing innovation, she also said the administration should not lose sight of Chinese attempts to dominate international standards setting bodies. The Commerce Department recently amended the Export Administration Regulations to allow U.S. companies to more easily participate in bodies in which Huawei is a member (see 2006160035), but Blackburn said there are more steps the U.S. can take. She pointed to a Senate bill introduced last year that would require the administration to submit a report on the “purpose, scope and means” of expanded Chinese influence on standards bodies.

“I think if we had this every year, where we could assess the direction that these organizations are moving and pinpoint problems … that would certainly be helpful,” Blackburn said. Experts recently told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that the U.S. should pursue more involvement in the bodies (see 2006240039).

Blackburn also said U.S. companies have a responsibility to sever trade ties with China if their supply chains are located in Xinjiang, echoing guidance issued by the administration in July (see 2007010040). She said the administration should continue convincing allies to penalize China for the human rights abuses in the region. “I think it's important for the corporate community, when they find out that there are these human rights abuses, that they stand up against this,” Blackburn said. “And the more we point it out, I think the more courage our allies have in standing up against it.”