Democrats tend to strengthen the federal government's power over American workers and businesses.
But now what they want is It aims to give European bureaucrats significant control over the American economy, especially by imposing European regulations aimed at harming American companies.
The Biden administration accomplished part of this task through administrative fiat. Congress has a golden opportunity to put an end to this.
The European Union has long treated American companies like piggy banks and expanded its social welfare state to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a year. The EU may not be able to innovate, but it is good at inventing new ways to cut American companies off from their finances. (Related: Grover Norquist: He won't be president, but this red state governor wins another important election)
New forms of taxation, such as the Digital Services Tax, and regulations, such as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, are clearly designed to extort money from American companies and exempt European companies. There is.
2022 study We estimate that the new DMA and DSA regulations will force U.S. companies to pay between $22 billion and $50 billion in new compliance costs, which are being borne by U.S. households already suffering from high inflation. . Failure to comply with DMA regulations can result in fines totaling up to 10% of annual turnover. Transferring all of this funding to EU regulators would seriously hinder the ability of U.S. companies to compete on the world stage.
Far from protecting American jobs, the Biden administration is weakening them on the international stage at every turn. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December Said Media reported that President Biden is not concerned about Canada's new tax on primarily American streaming services. There was also no opposition from the Biden administration that Canada's content quotas hurt U.S. streaming companies. These are clear signals from the Biden administration to foreign governments that they are free to tax American companies. Not only has the Biden administration succumbed to it, but welcomed The Paris-based OECD's “global minimum tax” system effectively ends tax competition and makes it impossible for the United States to compete.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai recently announced She argued that the WTO's e-commerce rules allow free flow of data across borders and prohibit national requirements for data localization and software source code reviews, which the Trump administration did in 2019. He said he would withdraw long-standing U.S. digital trade demands. Tai's announcement was a formal signal that the Biden administration is bowing to progressive activists, putting American companies at a clear disadvantage and benefiting foreign adversaries.
The USTR is not the only government agency bowing to foreign regulators. Biden's Federal Trade Commission, led by progressive activist Lina Khan, even sent staff to “assist” the EU in implementing the DMA. At her hearing last year, Khan tried to portray the collusion as follows: “Good governance.For Biden, sending American bureaucrats to take marching orders from European regulators is good governance. (Related: Stephen Moore: It's time for the Fed to ditch the dumbest theory in economics)
Lawmakers from both parties condemned Mr. Tai's abrupt reversal of decades-old digital trade policy.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) said Mr. Tai's withdrawal would “cede the playing field to the Chinese Communist Party and abandon our closest trading partner.” In a letter, Senate Republicans said, “The Thai ambassador…made clear that foreign countries are free to discriminate against American companies…It is the USTR's failure to defend the United States and stand up against discrimination from foreign countries, especially China. It goes against the mission.” Representatives Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Susan DelBene (D-Washington) Said It claimed that Mr. Tai's withdrawal was done “without the consent of Congress.”
The center-right community has widely criticized Biden for capitulating to foreign regulators. 30 Free market groups and activists joined in a letter supporting Congress' efforts to repair Biden's damage.
Lawmakers could begin to rein in these government agencies by cutting funding.In numerous Congressional hearings, Mr. Khan We're screwed Not to mention trying to justify her professed need for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding, as well as detailing what the FTC is doing with taxpayer funds already at its disposal. Mr. Tai is using the resources at his disposal to undermine American companies overseas, a clear violation of the USTR Charter.
Instead of protecting America's interests abroad, the Biden administration is doing everything it can to undermine key American industries. Left unchecked, Biden's crooked policies will cripple the innovation and entrepreneurship that makes America the envy of the world. Congress should intervene and right the ship before it's too late.
Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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