US Senate approves ambitious plan to counter China in tech

The president of the Republican minority in the Senate, June 8, 2021, on Capitol Hill.

REUTERS - EVELYN HOCKSTEIN

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The US Senate on Tuesday passed a bill providing for very significant investments in science and technology.

It is presented as a historic plan to counter the economic threat from China and its “

authoritarian

model

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There is consensus in Congress for the defense of the American economy.

The US Senate adopted Tuesday, June 8 a bill presented as "

historic

" providing for ambitious investments in science and technology. 

The plan provides more than 170 billion dollars (more than 139 billion euros approximately) to support research and development in the technologies of the future, but also to encourage American companies to produce in the United States parts like the semiconductors essential to its industry, but mainly manufactured in Asia. 

Encourage the production of semiconductors

Faced with the Chinese who are investing more than 150 billion dollars in new technologies, the American plan provides for 52 billion dollars just for the manufacture of chips and semiconductors.

The remaining $ 120 billion will go to the National Science Foundation, a government agency tasked with supporting research in key areas like artificial intelligence or quantum computing. 

Not to mention, a billion and a half dollars to accelerate the development of 5G, which remains one of the points of tension with China. 

Winning the battle of the 21st century

Recovering economic independence and maintaining its place as world economic leader are the objectives of this very ambitious plan wanted by Joe Biden who declared that the United States was engaged "

in a competition to win the 21st century

".

As other countries continue to invest in their own research and development activities, we cannot fall behind.

America must maintain its position as the most innovative and productive nation in the world,

”added the US president.

The text was approved by 68 votes to 32 in the Senate and must now be adopted definitively, on a date that has not yet been set, by the House of Representatives before being promulgated by Joe Biden.

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