Question

analysis of US-China technological competition, addressing these issues:

1-What are the problems according to Trump administration the technological competition of two countries' firms;

2- What tools are used by the US and how, to address these problems.

Answer 1

The US-China relationship has reached at a critical point. The last year for both the countries was only for tit-for-tat tariff escalation. It is a race for global technological dominance. The problems according to Trump Administration on the technological competition of the firms of two countries are:

1. For the United States, US-China technology competition has a broad national security dimension.China is a main concern because it employs large number of legal means to acquire US technology. The US business community shares these concerns about the emerging technology competition and the importance of American companies being leaders high-tech sectors like production of foundational technologies and R&D.
2. For United States administration, competition of technology is not just about who will dominate high-tech sectorsbut also the fear that China is using these technologies in immoral ways such as China’s use of technology, as facial recognition and online monitoring, to make better effectiveness of domestic political control and to export such technologies to allow other governments to build or maintain as authoritarian regimes.
3. One US concern is how China conducts development of technology . The use of industrial policies by China in the form of direct subsidies to public and private firms give Chinese firms an advantage in competition.The policymakers of US and business leaders are angry by China’s use of industrial activities of secretly collecting and reporting information of US technologies, both conventional and cyber-enabled,that give Chinese firms an advantage in the development of technology.
4. Another concern is about technology control. A large number of US policymakers, investors and analysts argue that China has exploited loopholes in the US legal and regulatory controls to acheive access to high-tech advances.

In order to deal with concerns of Chinese outbound investment, the US has taken steps like involving the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) which reviews transactions related to foreign investment in the US which raise potential national security concerns. The Trump administration is also limiting the interactions of privae sectors with some Chinese companies, to avoid technological security risks. Also,the Trump Administration has decided to take more aggressive steps to reduce U.S. bilateral trade deficits and promote “free and fair trade,” including in regard to China.