The Trump administration just levied 145% tariffs on all goods imported from China. While the economic impact of this policy remains unclear, President Donald Trump is right to start playing offense. The United States is already falling behind China in countless technological advancements, thanks to several Biden-era policies undermining our economy and empowering our greatest adversary.
In particular, former President Joe Biden’s administration and its allies in Congress eroded the intellectual property protections that underpin virtually all advanced research and development, which fuels the lion’s share of economic growth. Inventors won’t invest the time and money needed to create new products unless they can earn a return. IP protections give them that chance by preventing rivals from copying an innovator’s designs and ideas for a set period of time.
Beijing understands this, which is why the Chinese Communist Party, despite its name, is actually strengthening intellectual property protections. Meanwhile, U.S. leaders have spent the past few years weakening them.
The Biden administration supported a World Trade Organization proposal in 2021 to rescind patents on U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines, paving the way for any foreign government, including China, to obtain the technology behind some of the world’s most cutting-edge medicines.
More recently, the Biden Justice Department argued that the federal government could bail out Moderna for allegedly infringing the patents of smaller firms to develop its COVID-19 shot. Analysts estimate Moderna could owe up to $4 billion in damages, a bill that the DOJ wants U.S. taxpayers to cover.
That would set a dangerous precedent for startups and other small inventors across the country. It would mean the federal government could pay corporate behemoths for products made using the stolen IP of less-established competitors and then bail them out when their theft is exposed.
And if the federal government steps in to foot the legal bill for IP infringement, the original inventors likely won’t get what they’re owed. The Court of Federal Claims is notoriously slow, with thousands of cases pending, so the inventors would have to wait years to be compensated for the impacts of the IP theft. Even then, the payments ordered by the Court of Federal Claims are generally a fraction of the judgments handed down by district courts. The Court of Federal Claims also lacks expertise in patent disputes, increasing the likelihood that inventors would be shortchanged for the value of their discoveries.
The long-term effect of such government meddling would be jarring. Smaller firms would lose confidence in their ability to enforce their patents, pull back on research and development efforts, and slow technological progress.
The Biden administration also proposed a framework that would threaten tens of billions of dollars’ worth of research and investment. Currently, a four-decade-old law enables federally funded universities and labs to patent their discoveries and license those patents to private-sector firms for additional research and development. Biden’s proposal would effectively allow federal bureaucrats to rip up these licensing agreements on a whim, thereby chilling licensing, research, and development across every high-tech industry.
It’s up to the Trump administration to clean up this mess — and quickly. Otherwise, it’ll only be a matter of time before China supplants us as the global leader in science and technology. China already grants twice as many patents each year as the U.S. does. In total, China issued nearly 40% of patents granted worldwide in 2021.
It’s not just the quantity of China’s patents that matters — it’s also the quality. According to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China now leads the world in developing 37 of 44 critical technologies, including drones and machine learning.
China has also been more than happy to steal what it can’t invent. A government report found that by 2018, China was stealing more than $225 billion worth of IP from the U.S. each year. Last year, a Chinese national was arrested and charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from Google. Beijing’s flagrant lawbreaking should make alarm bells in Washington ring even louder.
TRUMP RESUMES ATTACKS ON CHINA AFTER IT DENIES NEGOTIATING ON TARIFFS
Even U.S. companies recognize the contrast in approaches between China and the U.S. Ironically, Moderna has struck a $1 billion deal to develop and manufacture mRNA medicines in China exclusively for the benefit of its citizens, a bold move from the same company facing allegations that it stole U.S. technology to develop its COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna’s gift of American technology to China represents a lost opportunity for the U.S. and a huge win for our adversary. We need an administration that discourages, not facilitates, this strategy.
China isn’t slowing down. It’s up to the Trump administration to clean up Biden’s mess and make sure American companies can compete on a level playing field.
George Harris is an Army veteran, small business owner, publisher of Liberty Watch Magazine, and a former chairman of the Clark County, Nevada, Republican Party.