Yesterday the Senate passed the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), a $200 billion proposal aimed at countering China’s influence domestically and abroad. In a new insight, AAF’s Data & Policy Analyst Tom Lee and Technology & Innovation Policy Analyst Juan Londoño outline the bill’s key provisions and examine the federal government’s expanded role in strategic sectors.

Their central points:

• USICA has gained bipartisan support and has been labeled as “must-pass” legislation, but the negotiation process has resulted in the inclusion of amendments and provisions that deviate from the bill’s original goal;
• The bill proposes an expanded role for the federal government in “strategic sectors” – including semiconductors, drones, wireless broadband, and artificial intelligence – with increased funding, supervision, and regulation of various industries; and
• It also further expands the use of trade provisions in order to restrict the flow of Chinese goods and services and to bolster President Biden’s Buy American agenda.

Read the primer.