With one of the most fractious, ruthless, and discordant federal elections in living memory just around the corner, the politics across wide swathes of the U.S. remains hopelessly divided. Yet, judging each presidential candidate strictly on policy proposals represents one of the only few systematic methods of sifting through personal and groupthink biases, which in turn paves the way for decisions that are rational and grounded in facts.
The tech sector constitutes an integral component of not just the market but the economy as a whole. Add in the escalation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in nearly every domain, and tech policies stand to hold geopolitical significance. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that voters—who are the real consumers of technology and future strategies—should personally evaluate the pertinent policy proposals of the Trump and Harris campaigns.
To aid this intellectual exercise, we bring you today a bird's eye view of the broader technology-related architecture that our readers can expect from a Harris or Trump presidency.
The Tech Moat Under Trump And Harris Administrations
Stifled innovation. This is a charge that the Trump campaign has frequently lobbed at the opposing camp, promising to undo the regulatory overreach that the Biden-Harris administration has allegedly deployed to regulate the broader tech sector. On the flip side, the Harris campaign maintains that Trump's policies are too lax, bordering on pandering to the interests of C-suite America.
Let's look at the specific buttresses that currently underpin the tech-related vision for America as enunciated by these two disparate presidential campaigns.
The CHIPS Act
As the Biden administration's signature reform to ensure a gradual re-shoring of chip production in the U.S., the Harris campaign has predictably touted the provision of $39 billion in federal grants and subsidies - along with billions of dollars in loans - to eligible entities such as Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and Micron. The initiative also provides an additional $11 billion for chip-related R&D activities.
If the initiative succeeds, around 28 percent of the global supply of advanced chips could originate in the U.S. by 2032, as opposed to 0 percent today.
So far, the CHIPS Program Office (CPO) has announced $33.7266 billion in grants and up to $28.8 billion in loans to 20 companies.
However, there are nascent signs that a Trump presidency would be less than enthusiastic about the CHIPS Act. For one, Trump recently termed the initiative "so bad." Moreover, House Speaker Mike Johnson was caught on tape a little while back saying that "we probably will" try to undo the CHIPS Act should the Republicans gain unfettered control of Congress and Trump win the presidency. Of course, Johnson soon recanted those comments, attributing his response to a misheard question. However, the episode does introduce a cautionary note regarding this policy measure's longevity under a so-called red wave.
Crypto Sector And CBDCs
Under the Biden administration, the SEC has adopted a regulation-by-enforcement approach to the crypto sector, resulting in dozens of high-profile lawsuits. What has been lacking is a clear-cut criterion for determining which coins constitute a security for investment purposes, thereby invoking the SEC's jurisdiction, and which account for a commodity under the auspices of the CFTC.
While both the Trump and Harris campaigns have offered their support to the nascent crypto sector, the former has been much more forceful in its endorsement. For instance, Trump has gone so far as to promise a strategic Bitcoin reserve and his campaign is now accepting donations denominated in Bitcoin, Ether, and other major cryptocurrencies. The former president sees Bitcoin as a critical bulwark against the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and has clearly positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate.
Big Tech And Antitrust Issues
Under Trump, the DOJ and the FTC brought antitrust lawsuits against Google and Meta. The Biden administration then ratcheted up the proverbial heat by bringing antitrust lawsuits against Amazon and Apple and lobbing a second case against Google. To that end, the DOJ recently recorded a win against Google as the presiding judge found that the search giant constituted a monopoly, with possible remedial measures now including the option of breaking up Google itself.
A Harris administration is likely to maintain this crusade against the Big Tech companies. Trump, on the other hand, has been somewhat restrained. For instance, on the possibility of breaking up Google, the former president conceded that he would "do something," but eschewed the disintegration of the search giant as a viable policy option, arguing that China would benefit in that case.
Privacy And Censorship
Here is a conundrum. While the Trump campaign has been very vocal in its support of alternative social media platforms, this largesse does not extend to TikTok. In fact, the hostility against TikTok runs rampant on both sides of the aisle due to the inherent national security concerns around China gaining access to the sensitive data of millions of Americans.
The Biden administration recently passed a law that now requires ByteDance to sell Tiktok by April 2025 or face a complete ban in the US.
Excluding TikTok, the Trump administration is likely to be quite benevolent to alternate social media platforms. Of course, Trump has all but embraced Elon Musk's X and also continues to promote his own platform, called Truth Social.
AI
This is the Harris campaign's strongest suit. The VP is quite supportive of AI, going so far as to term the nascent tech a "moment of profound opportunity" at last year's Summit on AI Safety. A Harris administration will very likely build upon Biden's 2023 AI-focused executive order that provides for harnessing this emerging technology while managing the associated risks.
Trump, on the other hand, has been quite skeptical of Biden's executive order, terming it an effort that "imposes radical left-wing ideas on the development of this technology." Instead, the Trump campaign promises to support AI-related initiatives as long as they are "rooted in free speech and human flourishing."
EVs
The Biden administration gave a huge jolt to EV sales in the U.S. by introducing a $7,500 tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act on the sale of qualifying electric vehicles. A Harris administration will likely maintain this very pro-EV stance.
Trump, on the other hand, has made his disdain for battery-powered cars quite plain. Apart from vowing to ease the emissions limits, the former president has also promised to levy a 60 percent tariff on all imports from China and a more general tariff of between 10 and 20 percent on all other imports. This measure will undoubtedly curtail the ingress of China-made EVs in the US, which might end up benefiting the US-based car manufacturers, including Tesla. On balance, it remains unclear at the moment whether the U.S. EV industry would be able to survive a Trump presidency unscathed.
Interestingly, Elon Musk has recently emerged as one of Trump's biggest supporters, having already pledged to head a government efficiency commission under the former president's administration. Musk's probable clout in a possible Trump presidency would likely play an important role in curtailing some of the more openly hostile measures against EVs in a Trump presidency.
It is not too far now to see whose campaign will prevail and whose tech policies will be implemented. In the comments, let us know how both Trump's and Harris's tech-centric approaches influence your voting decision.
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