How Foreign Economic Attacks on US Tech Firms Weaken America

America’s technology leadership is increasingly under attack as foreign governments—both allies and adversaries—weaponize their domestic regulatory frameworks to restrict leading U.S. firms’ ability to innovate and compete on a level playing field in global markets. The EU pioneered this practice with laws such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), which were enacted ostensibly to promote fair and open digital markets, but disproportionately targeted a few leading U.S. tech firms with restrictive rules and exorbitant fines. Now, similar policies are coming into effect or are under consideration in dozens of other countries around the world. Together, they mark a new trend in global trade: neither tariffs nor traditional non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs), they instead constitute non-tariff attacks. Coming against the backdrop of America’s techno-economic power struggle with China, how do these punitive market constraints on U.S. tech companies impact U.S. economic competitiveness and national security writ large? What are the consequences of foreign governments inhibiting the growth of “Big Tech” and squeezing revenues from leading firms? How does China benefit? And what are the knock-on effects for America’s techno-economic strength?

Please join ITIF’s Aegis Project for an expert panel discussion with leading experts from the Council on Global Competitiveness and Innovation (CGCI) on how non-tariff attacks (NTAs) are draining critical R&D resources from AI, quantum computing, and advanced semiconductors at the precise moment when concentrated investment is essential for maintaining our strategic edge.

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