The United States is being outpaced by China in advancing new technologies, making it increasingly difficult for America’s economy to wean itself from the the authoritarian powerhouse.
That was among the messages delivered at the South Dakota Trade Association’s Midwest Agriculture Export Summit, which recently drew more than 150 from across the region to the Sanford Event Barn for a day-long brainstorming and learning session focused on diversifying regional exports.
Among the public officials, industry leaders and national dignitaries in the room were Michelle Bekkering, the national engagement director for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a nonprofit organization formed by a coalition of American businesses and non-governmental organizations.
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During a panel discussion on the future of U.S.-China relations that included the America First Policy Institute’s Steven Yates and U.S.-China Business Council Vice President David Thomas.
U.S. investment into technology, science has dropped
Bekkering said growing worries about the Chinese Communist Party undermining U.S. national security require America to regain its standing as the world’s leader in public investment into research and development. While the U.S. used to be atop the list of countries investing in technology and science industries, public investment into research and development here has dropped by a third in the past two decades.
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“In that same period of time, guess who’s overtaken us on the world stage as the largest investor into R and D?” she asked the crowd, referring to research and development. “China. And they now out compete the U.S. as well as the E.U. in their total spending.”
And that means it’s harder for American businesses to keep up with their global competitors without turning to China or one of dozens of other countries with which it has research and development partnerships.
Changing that reality would also result in a more diversified export economy for the U.S., including its agriculture industry. South Dakota Trade President and CEO Luke Lindberg said that’s the driving mission of the organization he’s led since its inception earlier this year. That was also the central theme of this year’s agriculture summit, he said.
South Dakota needs ‘a broad range of friends’
“We want to make sure we have a broad range of friends across the world that want to buy our products and know about the quality of the products we’re making,” Lindberg told The Dakota Scout. “So we want (our people) to be engaged, go on trade missions and work with distributors to find more places to distribute their products.
“And for those who sit on association boards or are interacting directly with members of Congress or the administration, we want to make sure they understand the geopolitical environment,” he added.
China, its role in the U.S. economy and its potential to compromise national security have been commonplace in policy discussion of late — and not just nationally but in South Dakota as well. South Dakota’s delegation in Washington, D.C. has called for tighter controls on China and China-related policies. And Gov. Kristi Noem last winter called on the South Dakota Legislature to give her the authority to veto private land transfers involving foreigners.
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And that’s why for Yates, it was his second trip to South Dakota in recent months.
A past advisor to former Vice President Dick Cheney during the Bush administration, Yates addressed the state Legislature in January in support of the Noem administration’s push to get that policy proposal into law.
Though those efforts were unsuccessful, Yates reiterated his position during the panel that allowing China to own not just land, but also ag-related processing facilities, makes the U.S. vulnerable to its primary rival.
“I think land … is a strategic asset to the United States and no one other than Americans have a right to own land in America,” he said. “We want many other people to, but that’s a privilege, and we should exercise discernment about who people are and how and where they operate.”