Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., applauded the passage of the bipartisan United States Innovation and Competition Act today, which includes critical priorities to help workers and employers in Oregon and across the country level the playing field with China.
“The Senate came together to deliver a massive, bipartisan win for U.S. workers and American innovation. From new incentives for tech R&D, to new tools targeting Chinese government trade cheating and stronger enforcement of laws against forced labor, this bill is chock-full of ways to help our country get ahead. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act will level the playing field and help for workers and small businesses in Oregon and across the country,” Wyden said.
The package includes a bipartisan amendment by Wyden and Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, which was added by a 91-4 vote, to take aim at China’s worst trade practices, including forced labor, unethical seafood production, counterfeiting, and theft of intellectual property.
“I’m proud to have coauthored with Ranking Member Crapo provisions going after seafood caught using forced labor, focusing on censorship of free speech online by China and other authoritarian governments, and empowering U.S. Customs to crack down on counterfeit goods,” Wyden continued.
The package also includes a provision originally authored by Wyden and supported by Sen Rand Paul, R-Ky., requiring open access to federally funded research within 12 months of that research being published in peer-reviewed journals.
“Taxpayer-funded research shouldn’t be locked away behind expensive paywalls – it should be open to researchers to spur new innovation and scientific advances. Our provision will help ensure more researchers benefit from work paid for by the American public,” Wyden concluded.
The package includes a host of new provisions to benefit workers in Oregon and across the country, including:
· More than $50 billion in grants and incentives for semiconductor research and domestic manufacturing, which will help companies in the Silicon Forest design and produce chips in Oregon.
· New tools to help U.S. Customs crack down on imports made with forced labor, including seafood that unfairly competes with fish caught off the Oregon Coast. In addition to being morally repugnant, forced labor disadvantages Oregon businesses, workers and fishers.
· $10 billion for the Department of Commerce to help cities establish themselves as regional technology hubs for researching, developing and manufacturing key technologies.
· An extension of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and Miscellaneous Tariffs Bill (MTB) with important updates to GSP eligibility rules that ensure trade policy rewards advances in human rights, women’s economic empowerment, labor, environment, rule of law and digital trade, among others.
An online version of this release is here.