US, Europe Need Closer Cooperation on Emerging Tech, Experts Say

The U.S. should strengthen a range of measures to slow down China’s technology growth, including more foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions and prohibitions on Chinese acquisitions of U.S. technology, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Although many in Europe prefer the U.S. to remain technologically superior to China, Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, said little can be done to stop China's rise, and the U.S. should instead focus on increasing trade with China instead of decoupling. Both said the U.S. and Europe should collaborate more closely on industrial technology policy, including for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Atkinson, speaking during a Jan. 6 event hosted by ITIF, said the U.S. should “absolutely” be trying to slow down China’s advanced technology growth and argued European countries should want the same. He said China’s “technology advancements come at the cost of European technology advancements and U.S. technology advancements.” The U.S. should continue to limit Chinese forced technology transfers and investment in the U.S., Atkinson said, adding that Europe made a “big mistake” in recently agreeing to an investment cooperation deal with China. “Their FDI is about tech acquisition,” Atkinson said of China. “That’s all it is.” U.S. officials have tried to convince allies, including the EU, to increase scrutiny of Chinese investment (see 2002260042) after expanding the jurisdiction of its Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (see 2009170017 and 2002110042).

But many European countries do not feel responsible for countering Chinese technology advancements, Gros said. “We don't constrain U.S. technology policy. We wouldn't even dream of that,” Gros said. “The idea that we could somehow constrain Chinese policy on technology” seems “very fanciful to me.” He argued that the U.S. should pursue more trade with China. “If China uses some U.S. technology, and the U.S. uses some Chinese technology, then both are dependent on the other, and it makes it easier to manage conflict,” he said.

Atkinson stressed that he is “not on the side of full decoupling” but said the U.S. should be working with allies to “push back against” China and its unfair trade practices, especially in the technology sector. Although the Trump administration has often opted not to pursue multilateral cooperation, Atkinson said the incoming Joe Biden administration will do more and “mend some of the fences that were unfortunately broken” with allies. Both Atkinson and Gros said the U.S. and Europe should work together on policies to bolster research and development of advanced technologies. “Europe is focusing on a number of areas that we’re focusing on,” such as quantum computing, Atkinson said. “These technologies are getting so complex and so expensive that we should be working more closely together.”