The January 13 House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on "Maintaining American Innovation and Technology Leadership" was wide-ranging and touched on the absence of protections abroad for United States intellectual property (IP), and issues related to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), artificial intelligence (AI), and digital service taxes (DSTs).

Chairman Adrian Smith (R-NE) opened the hearing by saying that compared to US policies, "Many of our trading partners lack similar innovation-friendly rules and often impose measures aimed at undermining American companies in order to advantage their own firms. The absence of adequate and effective protection for American intellectual property rights holders in export markets also significantly hinders the ability of US innovators to export and operate overseas, harming the economic interests of the United States. Similarly, discriminatory digital trade and tax measures seek to erode America's competitive advantage."

Ranking Member Linda Sánchez (D-CA) questioned the timing of the hearing when, she said, the focus should be on economic effects of the Administration's tariffs. On the topic of the hearing, she said, "We have long supported strong copyright and intellectual property protections in our trade agreements, which have fueled American innovation. We have also fought to level the playing field for American companies competing abroad, including by opposing digital services taxes and other discriminatory measures." At various points during the hearing, Democrats including Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) focused on tariffs and asserted they have increased costs for consumer goods.

Testimony is available here.

More information is available in the attached WCEY Alert.