February 24, 2025 • 6 mins
Business Software Alliance President & CEO Victoria Espinel speaks on the potential impact the Trump administration's tariffs may have on the US tech sector. She speaks with Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde and Jackie Davalos
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The Trump Administration's focus on trade continues to impact tech companies.
Apple is seeking relief from President Trump's tariffs on goods
imported from China with more investments in the US. Trump
also signed a memorandum on Friday to counter digital services
taxes some countries imposts on US tech giants. All of
this as the US is competing to lead the way
(00:29):
in AI and quantum computing. Here to unpack the impact
of these developments is Victoria Espadel, CEO of the Business
Software Alliance. Victoria, It's pretty clear that President Trump has
declared himself pro innovation, pro technology, but what do you
make of the way he's going about it?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
So, as you say, I think the administration has been
really transparent about what their goals are in terms of
innovation and competition, and it's interesting to see them approaching
it in a variety of different ways. Some are focus
on trying to promote US industry, some are trying to
are focused on trying to protect US industry. But you're
seeing this across trade. I think you're going to see
it in the AI Action Plan that the administration is
(01:10):
going to be working on soon. We are hoping that
quantum competitiveness will be part of what the White House
is focused on. So I think you're going to be
seeing this in a number of areas.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Your whole role is advancing enterprise software companies, leadership and
global policies. So how much are they having their voices
heard when we see the latest impact on Digital Services Act?
But then also what's happening with China and the impact
that has on an Apple for example.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
So it's you know, you raise a Digital Services Act.
It's true that that's an act that has more of
a focus on social media companies, for example, rather than
enterprise software. There are, but there are so many impacts
that the atrump of administration can have I think, including
many in a positive way on enterprise software. Some of
(01:54):
the issues that are front of mind are not ones
that are going to be impacted by enterprise so for
exampleple speech issues. You know, there's a lot that's happening
that's really positive from AI enterprise and AI software that's
not going to be impacted by those. But on the
other hand, I think the administration has a real opportunity
to lead in terms of digital trade. I think they
(02:17):
have a real opportunity to lead in terms of AI adoption.
And you know, there's so much there's so much focus
and attention to building the large LM models, and of
course that's important, but what we really need to have
the broadest positive economic impact is AI adoption across a
wide range of industries. And that is something that I
(02:38):
think there's real potential for the administration to take the
lead on.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And companies have been trying to think of Microsoft and
really focusing in on the consumer applications with the mastaff
are soonly went to high for example, and proportion of
him Victoria. What is it then the companies that you're
talking with, and that companies currently are trying to navigate
and maybe be politicking as we see with Tim Cook,
how what do they really want? Is it clarity or
(03:01):
is it actually that they do want change here?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
So let's talk about AI and what's happening in AI
regulation And I would say, you know, speaking for enterprise software,
I think there are at a broad level, there are
three things that we want. First, we are pro regulation.
We think it makes sense to have regulation. What we
don't want is bad regulation. And what I would characterize
bad regulation is regulation that's unworkable regulation that is addressing
(03:27):
the wrong issues, So I think that's important. Second, there
needs to be clarity. One of the hindreds is the
innovation we have right now is there's so much churn
in the system. Is regulation coming is it not? Who
will it apply to? Who will it want? And that
is an enormous drag on a company's ability to innovate
and plan forward. And then the third thing that we
(03:48):
need is consistency. The thing that is even worse than
lack of clarity is inconsistency across different laws being passed
by the US States, different laws being passed by other
countries that are in conflict for on one another. And
that is even more of a problem if you are
a small company, that is going to have even more
difficulty dealing with those. So no bad regulation, clarity and
(04:11):
consistency are three things that are critical if we are
going to continue to move forward.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Victoria, you mentioned the small players. A lot of the
headlines come from the big tech giants, But what do
some of the policies that you're thinking about, How would
that affect perhaps some of the smaller technology companies. Would
it only benefit the large incumbents.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
No.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I think actually, in many cases the biggest positive impact
will be on the smaller companies, so they won't be
held down by, for example, unworkable or inconsistent regulation. I mean,
there's so much happening in the AI policy space, but
here are two things that I would emphasize, and I
think these will have an impact on all companies, including
(04:54):
and perhaps in particular small companies. One is at the
federal level. So in terms of what's happening here in Washington, DC,
a focus on promoting AI adoption is something that we're
expecting to see and there's been support for that in
the past, but we're expecting a lot more activity this
year coming year on AI adoption. But the second thing
(05:16):
I would say is that any company that wants to
understand what is happening in AI regulation right now has
to be looking at what is happening in the states.
There is the US States. There's a tremendous amount of
activity there. We're very focused there. You had Colorado pass
the first comprehensive AI law last year, but now you
have Texas, Connecticut, Virginia, California. They all want to be next,
(05:41):
and that the states are going to move legislation and regulation.
So when you talk about all companies, but in particular
small companies trying to deal with this the regulation that's coming,
and trying to deal with inconsistencies that we may see there.
If that comes to pass, that is going to be
a big drag on innovation points.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Victoria Espanel from the Business Software Alliance, thanks so much
for joining us.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The Trump Administration's focus on trade continues to impact tech companies.
Apple is seeking relief from President Trump's tariffs on goods
imported from China with more investments in the US. Trump
also signed a memorandum on Friday to counter digital services
taxes some countries imposts on US tech giants. All of
this as the US is competing to lead the way
(00:29):
in AI and quantum computing. Here to unpack the impact
of these developments is Victoria Espadel, CEO of the Business
Software Alliance. Victoria, It's pretty clear that President Trump has
declared himself pro innovation, pro technology, but what do you
make of the way he's going about it?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
So, as you say, I think the administration has been
really transparent about what their goals are in terms of
innovation and competition, and it's interesting to see them approaching
it in a variety of different ways. Some are focus
on trying to promote US industry, some are trying to
are focused on trying to protect US industry. But you're
seeing this across trade. I think you're going to see
it in the AI Action Plan that the administration is
(01:10):
going to be working on soon. We are hoping that
quantum competitiveness will be part of what the White House
is focused on. So I think you're going to be
seeing this in a number of areas.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Your whole role is advancing enterprise software companies, leadership and
global policies. So how much are they having their voices
heard when we see the latest impact on Digital Services Act?
But then also what's happening with China and the impact
that has on an Apple for example.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
So it's you know, you raise a Digital Services Act.
It's true that that's an act that has more of
a focus on social media companies, for example, rather than
enterprise software. There are, but there are so many impacts
that the atrump of administration can have I think, including
many in a positive way on enterprise software. Some of
(01:54):
the issues that are front of mind are not ones
that are going to be impacted by enterprise so for
exampleple speech issues. You know, there's a lot that's happening
that's really positive from AI enterprise and AI software that's
not going to be impacted by those. But on the
other hand, I think the administration has a real opportunity
to lead in terms of digital trade. I think they
(02:17):
have a real opportunity to lead in terms of AI adoption.
And you know, there's so much there's so much focus
and attention to building the large LM models, and of
course that's important, but what we really need to have
the broadest positive economic impact is AI adoption across a
wide range of industries. And that is something that I
(02:38):
think there's real potential for the administration to take the
lead on.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And companies have been trying to think of Microsoft and
really focusing in on the consumer applications with the mastaff
are soonly went to high for example, and proportion of
him Victoria. What is it then the companies that you're
talking with, and that companies currently are trying to navigate
and maybe be politicking as we see with Tim Cook,
how what do they really want? Is it clarity or
(03:01):
is it actually that they do want change here?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
So let's talk about AI and what's happening in AI
regulation And I would say, you know, speaking for enterprise software,
I think there are at a broad level, there are
three things that we want. First, we are pro regulation.
We think it makes sense to have regulation. What we
don't want is bad regulation. And what I would characterize
bad regulation is regulation that's unworkable regulation that is addressing
(03:27):
the wrong issues, So I think that's important. Second, there
needs to be clarity. One of the hindreds is the
innovation we have right now is there's so much churn
in the system. Is regulation coming is it not? Who
will it apply to? Who will it want? And that
is an enormous drag on a company's ability to innovate
and plan forward. And then the third thing that we
(03:48):
need is consistency. The thing that is even worse than
lack of clarity is inconsistency across different laws being passed
by the US States, different laws being passed by other
countries that are in conflict for on one another. And
that is even more of a problem if you are
a small company, that is going to have even more
difficulty dealing with those. So no bad regulation, clarity and
(04:11):
consistency are three things that are critical if we are
going to continue to move forward.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Victoria, you mentioned the small players. A lot of the
headlines come from the big tech giants, But what do
some of the policies that you're thinking about, How would
that affect perhaps some of the smaller technology companies. Would
it only benefit the large incumbents.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
No.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I think actually, in many cases the biggest positive impact
will be on the smaller companies, so they won't be
held down by, for example, unworkable or inconsistent regulation. I mean,
there's so much happening in the AI policy space, but
here are two things that I would emphasize, and I
think these will have an impact on all companies, including
(04:54):
and perhaps in particular small companies. One is at the
federal level. So in terms of what's happening here in Washington, DC,
a focus on promoting AI adoption is something that we're
expecting to see and there's been support for that in
the past, but we're expecting a lot more activity this
year coming year on AI adoption. But the second thing
(05:16):
I would say is that any company that wants to
understand what is happening in AI regulation right now has
to be looking at what is happening in the states.
There is the US States. There's a tremendous amount of
activity there. We're very focused there. You had Colorado pass
the first comprehensive AI law last year, but now you
have Texas, Connecticut, Virginia, California. They all want to be next,
(05:41):
and that the states are going to move legislation and regulation.
So when you talk about all companies, but in particular
small companies trying to deal with this the regulation that's coming,
and trying to deal with inconsistencies that we may see there.
If that comes to pass, that is going to be
a big drag on innovation points.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Victoria Espanel from the Business Software Alliance, thanks so much
for joining us.
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