Open QuestionsUS tech curbs pushed China to innovate, regulation expert Angela Zhang says

Angela Zhang is a law professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Zhang is an expert on technology regulation and antitrust in China, and her research focus has recently been on artificial intelligence oversight. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.

How will the new US-China tariff war affect the Chinese technology sector and competition between the two countries on artificial intelligence?

Tariffs can affect the Chinese tech sector in two main ways.

First, there are the direct effects. Higher tariffs make it harder for Chinese tech products to compete in the US market. If the tariffs stay relatively modest – like the levels we saw before “Liberation Day” – Chinese suppliers might absorb some of the extra costs. Prices would go up a bit, but their products might still be competitive. But if the tariffs go up dramatically – say, to the 145 per cent that President [Donald] Trump proposed before China and the US reached an agreement in Geneva – then Chinese products would probably lose their price advantage and be effectively shut out of the US market.