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**APRIL 3, 2024**
On the Prospect website
Eurocrats on the Brink
In a
world on fire, with corporate and anti-democratic forces rising, why are
European policymakers so slow to react? BY DAVID DAYEN
The Staying Power of Crypto's Political Machine
SBF is going to jail, but the crypto machine remains king in the
2024 elections. BY LUKE GOLDSTEIN
Joe Lieberman Not Only Backed Bush's War; He Also Helped Make Bush
President
A remembrance of this most feckless of Democrats BY RICK
PERLSTEIN
Fetterman Hires Former Meta Staffer for His Comms Operation
The tech giant has been accused of censoring Palestinians during the
Gaza war. BY LUKE GOLDSTEIN
Kuttner on TAP
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**** The Trade War Within the U.S. Government
Why does the National Security Council keep trying to wrest control of
trade policy to help Big Tech?
The tug-of-war within the Biden administration continues over whether to
use trade policy to restrict the very kinds of regulations of tech that
the administration is championing at home. These include protections of
privacy from data mining and sale; regulation of AI; antitrust
enforcement of excessive concentration and price-gouging; as well as
keeping Americans' data secure from Chinese snooping.
The U.S. Trade Representative, which is the Cabinet-level agency
responsible for government-wide policies, made clear in its annual
National Trade Estimate (NTE), released March 29, that trade policy is
not to be used to undermine regulatory policy at home or abroad. U.S.
Trade Rep Katherine Tai underscored that in a statement
:
"The NTE Report has received unprecedented attention this year because
we are taking steps to return it to its stated statutory purpose. We
respect that each government-including our own-has the sovereign
right to govern in the public interest and to regulate for legitimate
public policy reasons," she said.
And here's where the story gets weird. Despite Tai's policy, which
clearly reflects President Biden's, the National Security Council, of
all agencies, keeps trying to wrest control of digital trade policy from
USTR.
If anything, you would expect the NSC to be even tougher, especially
given the concerns over China using its own technology to spy on
Americans and on the U.S. government. But the NSC wants to retain
language that allows digital regulation to be treated as a trade
barrier.
This stance happens to chime perfectly with that of the tech lobby and
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber declared in a recent statement
,
"By dropping U.S. objections to trade violations, USTR risks giving a
green light to foreign governments to raise barriers against U.S.
exports or otherwise discriminate against U.S. companies." This is the
old dscredited argument that because the tech behemoths most likely to
be regulated happen to be U.S. companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon,
regulating tech is discriminatory against U.S. exports.
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So what is the NSC up to? NSC-watchers offer three theories.
One is that the NSC is carrying water for Big Tech because of the career
interests of some of the players. Both national-security and trade
agencies are notorious revolving doors. As I've reported
,
Nelson Cunningham, a corporate lobbyist, has been nominated to serve as
Tai's chief deputy. Even Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, who is close
to tech, was appalled and may block Cunningham's confirmation.
A second theory is that this is about turf and ideology. Former USTR
staff now at NSC have a more traditional view of the use of trade policy
to constrain national regulation, as has been done via the World Trade
Organization.
An even darker theory is that some at the NSC may want to protect Big
Tech because the tech companies cooperate with the national-security
state in spying on Americans, and sheltering them from regulation
returns the favor. Let's hope not.
Whatever the motivation, the government needs one policy on this.
Tai's policy happens to be Biden's own policy, and wayward NSC
staffers need some adult supervision.
Yes, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has a few other top
priorities, notably Israel-Gaza and Ukraine. But he needs to make time
to set this one straight.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter
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