Opinion: When it comes to tech policy, Biden and Harris are putting America last – Stephen Moore

The Wall Street Journal noted last week that U.S. shareholders stand to lose tens of billions of dollars in earnings from their investments in Silicon Valley stocks like Google and Apple if several sham lawsuits filed by the European Union are successful.

These are typically lawsuits alleging that dominant American technology companies are acting like monopolies. Or, to borrow a term, our technology companies are “price gouging.” Many of these companies now have market capitalizations of more than $2 trillion. Every pension fund in America increases in size and in benefits as these companies grow.

EU courts this week outrageously ruled that Apple shareholders owe Europe €13.5 billion in back taxes because the company took advantage of Ireland’s low 12.5% tax rate. The head of the EU’s “competition case” declared that the apparent court decision “is a major victory for European citizens and tax justice.” No, it’s a major victory for big government.

Meanwhile, Google shareholders are now being forced to pay the EU $2.7 billion because their search engine has become dominant in the European market. European search engines are so inferior that no one wants to use them. So sue the American companies.

Let’s be clear: the EU laggards are just green with envy. The Eurozone has been crushed by American technological dominance. No company in socialist Europe has found a way to compete with American innovation at Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and so on. Since they can’t compete, they invent lawsuits about losing.

This is what losers in sports have been complaining about since middle school: the other side didn’t play fair.

The bigger issue is why the Biden administration isn’t defending American companies against European extortion. These tech lawsuits are a tax on American knowledge and innovation.

Instead of protecting American shareholders from EU predators, Biden regulators are propping up and legitimizing foreign courts.

How can the US government complain about sham antitrust attacks (tech prices are plummeting) on Google and Apple when our own regulators at the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are filing copycat lawsuits against our tech giants in US courts? The FTC’s Lina Khan has spent nearly four years bombarding our tech industry leaders with nuisance lawsuits.

Google’s capricious fine comes as the American company scours the globe for the lowest tax climate (Ireland) to do business in. Is that illegal? Our corporate tax rate is now 21%, thanks to Trump’s tax cut, down from 35% under former President Barack Obama. But President Joe Biden and now presidential candidate Kamala Harris want to raise that back to 28% or higher. That only encourages more jobs and investment to move overseas. Did I mention Ireland’s rate is just 12.5%?

Instead of lowering rates here, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wants to force Ireland and other low-tax countries to raise their rates to a global minimum tax of 15% or more. This sounds like collusion and cartel politics. It’s like telling Kellogg’s they can’t charge less than $3 for a box of Special K to compete with Cocoa Crispies.

Similarly, antitrust lawsuits from Europe and Washington against American technology companies are unfounded, as prices for nearly every technology service—from cell phones to drone deliveries, internet searches to fiber-optic connections—are falling. How are consumers being cheated if they continue to pay less for new technology?

There is an old saying in sports: no harm, no foul.

I often dislike Big Tech politics. But the net result of what Washington is doing to punish American tech giants for building a better mousetrap is to move the world’s high-tech centers—from Silicon Valley to Austin, Boston, Miami—to competing countries. That’s a good way to lose jobs and put America last.

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