Thomas Friedman: How Trump's "Big and Beautiful Act" Will Make China Great Again

Author Thomas Friedman criticized President Donald Trump's tax cut bill in a column in The New York Times, which passed Congress with a narrow majority on Thursday.

He believes this "Big and Beautiful Act" benefits China. He stated that in the dawn of the "age of artificial intelligence," President Trump and his Republicans are implementing what is almost the worst strategic self-harm imaginable, while China's luck is simply unbelievable.

The bill was passed in the Senate two days ago with the decisive vote of Vice President J. D. Vance, then passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives with a narrow margin on Thursday, and was subsequently submitted to Trump for signing into law.

The main content of the bill includes extending the large-scale tax cuts enacted during Trump's first term (2017-2021), providing billions of dollars in additional funding for defense and immigration enforcement, eliminating taxes on tips, and cutting social security network programs.

In addition, Friedman pointed out that the bill quickly repealed tax credits for large solar and wind facilities, and eliminated all tax incentives for electric vehicles. This will substantially harm the future of U.S. solar, wind, electric vehicles, and autonomous technology.

However, he also noted that Trump retained the large tax credit policy from the Biden era, which supports the development of carbon-free technologies, including nuclear, hydro, geothermal power, and battery storage, until 2036.

Friedman believes the passage of this bill is an intentional weakening of the United States' ability to generate electricity from renewable sources, especially at a time when the growing electricity demand of AI data centers should be met by the fastest and cheapest solutions—solar, wind, and battery storage.

As a liberal Jewish commentator leaning toward the Democratic Party, Friedman sarcastically remarked that the so-called "Big and Beautiful Act" by the U.S. government does exactly what China is avoiding, and China might even celebrate July 4th as its own "national holiday" from now on.

He pointed out that unlike countries like Saudi Arabia, which are doubling down on solar power to attract AI companies, the U.S. has chosen the opposite direction through this bill.

Friedman warned that the bill was hastily passed without any hearings or input from independent energy experts or scientists, potentially putting billions of renewable energy investments at risk—most of which are located in Republican-majority states—and could lead to thousands of American workers losing their jobs.

He also expressed sympathy for billionaire Elon Musk, saying that he lost a lot of voter trust due to the erratic cuts made by the Trump administration in administrative efficiency.

Friedman called Musk one of the greatest innovators in American manufacturing, founding several global leading companies in the fields of electric vehicles, reusable rockets, battery storage, and communication satellites.

He pointed out that Musk and many other industry insiders believe that Trump and his Republican colleagues' rejection of clean energy policies is "madness and disaster," while China has repeatedly practiced the strategy of transitioning from the "dirtiest" energy to "cleaner" energy.

Friedman also criticized some "progressive" members within the Republican Party, calling their fantasies responsible for Trump's "extremely foolish" approach to energy policy.

He said these people seem to believe that it is possible to shift from a fossil fuel economy to a green, clean economy without expanding transitional energy sources such as natural gas and nuclear power, and even to transmit clean energy from deserts to cities without reforming the grid transmission approval process.

Friedman concluded sarcastically that there are only two parties in the world that would cheer for the passage of this bill: one is the U.S. Republican Party, and the other is the ruling party of China.

He summarized: "There is nothing more that can make China great again than Trump's 'Big and Beautiful Act'; it hands over the future of U.S. electricity to Beijing."

Source: New York Times

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836819826789386/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.