Congress Needs To Stop China From Winning The Global Innovation Race
Hundreds of American innovations are waiting on Washington. Congress should clear the way instead of kicking the can again.
Hundreds of American innovations are waiting on Washington. Congress should clear the way instead of kicking the can again.
More than 440 new chemistries are currently waiting in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) review queue. Over 90% have missed their statutory deadline. More than 300 have been waiting more than a year for a decision.
Every day those innovations sit in regulatory limbo is another day America loses ground in the global race to out-innovate China.
That should concern anyone who cares about America’s economic future.
The next great wave of American manufacturing will not be powered by slogans. It will be powered by chemistry. The chip in your phone, the battery in your truck, and the materials that keep an AI data center from overheating all depend on American companies being able to develop and deploy new chemistries here at home. When Washington gets chemical policy wrong, it does more than slow down paperwork. It hands China another advantage.
That is why a little-noticed December deadline on Capitol Hill matters more than most people realize.
President Trump recently signed legislation to keep the government open through December 11. The funding package included a short-term extension of the TSCA fees program, which helps fund EPA’s review of chemicals. In plain English, Congress bought itself a few more weeks. It should not waste them.
Ten years ago, Congress rewrote America’s chief chemical management law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), with overwhelming bipartisan support. The House vote was 403 to 12, and the Senate passed it by voice vote.
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), EPA has met its TSCA statutory deadline less than 10 percent of the time, over a five-year period.