House Subcommittee Hearing Focuses on Protecting U.S. Innovation, Digital Trade
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Summary
A House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing brought industry, trade and labor witnesses who urged stronger enforcement of U.S. intellectual property abroad, warned about spreading digital‑trade barriers and urged worker‑centered AI policies; members pressed for enforceable commitments from allies and possible Section 301 actions.
House members and outside witnesses on Thursday debated how the United States should defend intellectual property and digital trade as the global economy adopts new rules for data, platforms and content.
Chairman Smith opened the hearing saying that IP‑intensive industries account for 41% of U.S. gross domestic product and support roughly 63,000,000 jobs, and that discriminatory foreign measures ‘‘harm U.S. innovators’’ and must be countered. Ranking Member Rep. Sanchez said Democrats share concerns about protecting IP but emphasized worker impacts, higher consumer prices and broader civil‑liberties worries in trade policy.
Andrej Iancu, former director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and co‑chair of the Council for Innovation Promotion, told the subcommittee that ‘‘reliable, predictable, and meaningfully enforceable IP rights are the foundation of American prosperity.’’ He criticized the decision to back a TRIPS waiver for COVID‑19 vaccines as ‘‘thoroughly misguided,’’ saying there was no evidence the waiver delivered additional vaccines and that the waiver undermined incentives to invest in future medical innovation.
Anissa Brennan of the Motion Picture Association warned that recent laws in allied countries — including Canada’s Online Streaming Act and a new Australian content investment obligation — impose local‑content and revenue rules that she said discriminate against U.S. firms. Brennan urged the committee to press trading partners and recommended launching a Section 301 investigation into those investment obligations.
Nigel Corey, a trade adviser, described a ‘‘contagion’’ of digital‑trade restrictions — data localization, discriminatory licensing and digital‑services taxes (DSTs) — that he said act like a tax on scale and force U.S. firms to redesign services market‑by‑market. He recommended prioritizing digital market access in negotiations, pairing rules with leverage and seeking to lock in a permanent WTO e‑commerce moratorium.
Dan Maurer of the Communications Workers of America focused on labor, saying trade and digital policy must ‘‘raise standards globally’’ and that the United States currently lacks comprehensive rules on AI and data privacy. Maurer highlighted harsh working conditions for some content‑moderation and data‑labeling workers, noting mental‑health risks and the need for workers to have a voice in deployment of automated management systems.
Members pressed witnesses on enforcement mechanisms — including the USMCA review, WTO actions and the use of Section 301 trade tools — and on whether U.S. tariff and domestic policy choices have helped or hurt workers and firms. Several members raised constituent concerns about local impacts of digital infrastructure, including questions about the water and energy demands of large data center projects.
The hearing produced no votes or formal committee actions; members were told they have two weeks to submit written questions for the record and that witnesses’ written statements and answers will become part of the formal record.