Innovation bill opens a new front in the US-China economic war

The United States Senate has passed a major bill aimed at countering China's technological ambitions and footprints.

The US Innovation and Competition Act, which was formerly known as the Endless Frontier Act, will now go to the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives had previously passed a similar bill. Both the bills will now be adapted into a single version before being sent for US President Joe Biden's signature.

Both American political parties in the US Senate overwhelmingly supported the bill and can be termed as an outstanding bipartisan achievement since Joe Biden took over the presidency in January.

The legislation led by US senator Todd Young and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer allocates around $250 billion in funding for scientific research and technological innovations. 

It seeks to push major investments over five years for activities at the National Science Foundation to augment research and development in key areas like artificial intelligence, technological innovations, and quantum science. It also seeks to provide $52 billion to fund semiconductor research, design, and other manufacturing initiatives. 

Apart from forging partnerships between private firms and research universities, the proposed bill seeks to address areas in tech spaces in which the United States has started lagging behind the Chinese in production and market space. 

Schumer mentioned that US companies "lag" compared to China, particularly when it comes to technological innovation. The Chinese Communist Party, according to reports, is aggressively investing over $150 billion in semiconductor manufacturing. The bill makes a key provision that aims to addresses a shortage of semiconductors that slowed US auto production and will assist the US industry ramp up its production capacity. 

Schumer hailed the US Senate had for passage of the bill. Calling the US Senate action as a statement of faith in America's ability to seize the opportunities of the 21st century, Schumer said that the bill represented the largest investment in scientific research and technological innovation in generations.

Schumer also added that countries that best harness technologies like AI, robotics and quantum science will be able to shape innovation to their image.

Applauded the passage of the bill, US President Joe Biden said that the legislation addresses key elements that were included in his American Jobs Plan. 

Biden said he believed that it is long past time that the country invested in American workers and American innovation.

In a veiled attack on China, President Joe Biden said that the United States could not risk falling behind when other countries continued to invest in their own research and development.

The US President emphasized that the bill was one of the most significant pieces of legislation passed in a long time, one that will have a huge impact on the American economy and jobs. 

'Paranoid delusion'

Crying foul over the passage of the bill, Beijing accused Washington of paranoid delusion of egoism. 

As per reports, China's top legislature called the American bill an attempt to restrain the country's internal growth and interfere in the country's internal matters and divest it of its legitimate right to development through technology and economic decoupling. 

The bill was full of Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, an official spokesperson said.

• China
• Congress
• GOP
• Joe Biden
• US China relations
• US Innovation and Competition Act
• senate
• Innovation Bill