At the turn of the 20th century, the United States was the world’s undisputed technological leader. Now, quarter of the 21st, we have gone back. China includes us 37 out of 44 critical technologies that will define the coming decades.
Our economic prosperity and national security depend on restoring leadership. To do this, we need a new American innovation policy focused on empowering the kinds of startups and small businesses that lead the nation in breakthrough innovation. Donald Trump and JD Vance are best placed to deliver these reforms. Vance’s venture capital background makes him very familiar with the challenges startups face.
If she were to become the next president, Vice President Kamala Harris would continue the Biden administration’s hostility to innovative and emerging technologies. The Biden-Harris administration is cracking down on blockchain and crypto technologies, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed serious lawsuits against major companies in this booming industry.
This administration has also been against artificial intelligence with a major executive order — by some accounts. the longest in history—full of suffocating regulations that only a few of the largest companies can survive.
In biotechnology, the Biden-Harris administration agree At the World Trade Organization, countries can revoke patent protections for the mRNA technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines, essentially inviting China and other hostile nations to appropriate our intellectual property. That was the technology develop From American biotech startups, and it has applications beyond the pandemic.
In 2022, for the first time, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued more patents to foreign inventors rather than to Americans. From 2020 to 2022, it was received by Chinese inventors four times More global AI patents than the United States. China also has the world the highest number 6G patents worldwide.
Our ability to manufacture cutting edge technologies is second to none. Although we invented silicon technology, we now only produce around it 10% of chips in products used worldwide cell phones and automobiles to pacemakers and refrigerators. Most of the manufacturers that produce the active pharmaceutical ingredients, the key chemical compounds in our medicines, are located outside the United States. And China manufactures more than 75% of the lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles, cell phones, solar power, and so much more.
The result is a dramatic decline in American innovation and economic competitiveness. These trends must be reversed immediately so that we are not dependent on China and other foreign nations. Industry, academia and government must work together to turbocharge our startups and small businesses and revitalize our innovation economy.
Focusing on the “little guy” is key because that’s where innovative and disruptive innovation really happens. Edison invented the light bulb in his small workshop in New Jersey. The Wright brothers invented the airplane in their family’s bicycle shop in Ohio. Ford, the apple, Amgenand so many other market disruptors started in the proverbial garage.
The importance of small business cannot be overstated. Companies with 5 to 9 employees receive approx 60% more patents per capita than corporations with more than 25,000 employees. Startups and small businesses also account for nearly half of all US jobs and nearly two-thirds of net new jobs created since 1995.
Trump’s platform pledges to “champion innovation,” pledging to reverse Biden-Harris’ hostility to crypto and AI. He promises to make America a “manufacturing superpower” and “rules that stifle jobs, freedom, innovation,” all of which will benefit American startups and growing small businesses.
JD Vance truly understands the problems startups face and has already worked to solve them. Noting that 70% of venture capital dollars go to California, New York and Massachusetts, Vance worked closely with Steve Case, the founder of AOL, to create and run Rise of the Rest, a venture fund specifically focused on funding other entrepreneurs. 47 states
Innovation is similarly concentrated. More than 50% of US patents are granted to inventors in just five states. America cannot compete unless large parts of the country participate in the innovation economy. A Trump administration focused on our “forgotten” communities could change this trajectory.
The Small Business Administration, the only federal agency dedicated to small businesses, can re-lead the national conversation and advocate for investment in new, innovative companies. in each the state Under a second Trump administration, palpable small business optimism may return. I believe the SBA will focus on its core mission and modernize its processes, cut red tape, and expand access to its Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
as in The first Trump administrationThe National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is responsible for American technology standards and supporting innovation in universities and federal laboratories, will ensure that American technology can be adopted as an international standard, rather than allowing China to do so. to dominate standard setting NIST will once again encourage and protect the transfer of technology from academia to industry (typically startups), a real wealth of innovation that is under unprecedented attack under the Biden-Harris administration. he threatened to nationalize all this innovation for the first time in history.
The US Patent and Trademark Office could once again focus on policies that simplify the patent system and ensure that it is turbo-charged for innovation. And he will once again be able to focus a national conversation on the brilliance of inventors, the thrill of invention and the tremendous benefits they bring to society.
During the first Trump administration, when I was director of the USPTO, we created the National Council on Expanding America’s Innovation, a group of industry, academic and government leaders charged with helping the USPTO develop a comprehensive national strategy to expand participation in innovation. to the economy all American communities. The council began its work in 2020 during the Covid era, and under a new Trump administration, it could be reinvigorated and refocused to provide concrete and practical solutions.
Americans have always had an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. In August 1787, in the middle of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, John Fitch showed off his new steamboat on the Delaware River. Most of the delegates took a break to go and see the novelty of the steam engine. Innovation was important to the founding fathers, and remains just as critical today.
The United States needs policy reforms to help entrepreneurs and small businesses reach their potential. It’s time for America to be competitive again.
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