Science and R&D

If fully funded, the R&D investments in the CHIPS Act could raise U.S. productivity by 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent over seven years.

Canada stands at a pivotal moment to leverage its natural resource boom into long-term industrial strength by tying faster permitting and land access to reinvestment in innovation. A modest levy on resource extraction could fund a new federal agency focused on turning Canadian R&D into real production and globally competitive advanced industries.

The Center for Data Innovation urges the U.S. to refocus its federal AI R&D strategy on unlocking AI’s full potential by emphasizing deployment over harm prevention, linking technical design to real-world performance outcomes, and investing in the generation of high-quality, representative data to drive innovation and public benefit.

The tax provision allowing firms to fully expense their R&D costs in the year of investment expired, decreasing the incentive to invest in this key driver of economic growth and competitiveness. Congress should pass the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act of 2025 to restore the immediate deductibility of R&D expenses.

At the ITIF-KAIST Joint Forum, a distinguished group of experts confronted the turbulence stemming from the Trump administration’s strategic direction and explore critical questions surrounding technology sovereignty. The discussions also focused on practical pathways to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the US and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The United States is falling behind its global peers in funding university research, now ranking 27th in the OECD. To maintain global leadership and compete with countries like China, policymakers must reverse the dangerous cuts to university research.

The Trump administration’s “MFN” drug-price proposal would pose a far greater threat to U.S. biopharma innovation than the Inflation Reduction Act, because unlike the IRA’s selective list, MFN could apply across virtually every medicine, multiplying the deleterious impact.

As part of its deregulation efforts, the administration should clarify Bayh-Dole march-in rights; rescind NIH Access Planning Policy; rescind FRA two-person train crew requirements; clarify requirements for manually operated driving controls; protect America’s innovative clean-energy technologies; and streamline regulatory permitting for semiconductors.

Canada risks falling behind as a low-productivity, resource-based economy just as China rises as a global technology leader and U.S. protectionism grows. To help turn the ship of state toward a technology-driven economy, the government should take the simple but impactful step of giving Canadian industry more say in setting university research priorities.

Nations with businesses that spend more on R&D experience fewer firm closures. As such, policymakers should incentivize domestic businesses to invest more in R&D if they want to see industries succeed and grow, boosting the overall economy.