Apple, at the center of selective decoupling between the US and China…

bloomberg – Apple Inc. And The Walt-Disney Co. Are Among US Companies That Will Face The Greatest Challenges In “Selective Separation” From China, a key lawmaker said after a series of meetings with executives and experts in Hollywood and Silicon Valley this week.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House committee focused on US-China competition, met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Disney CEO Bob Iger as part of a three-day trip to California to learn more about how companies are dealing with inter-world tensions. the two largest economies.

“Apple is at the heart of the most complex aspect of this competition, which is that companies that have a significant presence in China will have to deal with the fact that some sort of selective economic decoupling is inevitable,” Gallagher said. in a telephone interview. “I will continue.”

Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican, and his Democratic counterpart, Raja Krishnamurthy, led a group of six lawmakers through a hectic schedule of meetings with executives from the tech and entertainment worlds. The agenda included lunch with Cook and executives from Google, Microsoft Corp, and Palantir Technologies Inc. subsidiary of Alphabet and dinners with dozens of high-profile venture capitalists, including Marc Andreessen and Vinod Khosla.

The lawmakers also met with Iger and other Hollywood executives to discuss concerns about US entertainment companies censoring their content in the Chinese market. The trip was part of an effort by lawmakers on the newly created committee to get out of Washington, D.C., and hear from the private sector.

Gallagher said that despite recent tensions — including Chinese military maneuvers in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to New York and California — he does not see a full detachment from China in the future. Instead, “selective deregulation” will occur as some supply chains for sensitive materials will gradually exit China, a process he acknowledges is complex and costly for businesses.

In their conversations with industry executives, most wanted “clear, clear lines from the government” on which areas of the Chinese economy they should stay away from.

According to Gallagher, there is “almost unanimous” support for restricting investment in artificial intelligence developed by China, as well as limiting investment in other key areas such as quantum computing, bioengineering, advanced semiconductors and other technologies that could be used for military purposes.

The Biden administration is working on a program that would restrict investment in some sectors of the Chinese economy and require reporting in others, but those plans are not yet finalized. Gallagher said he does not expect Congress to take legislative action on overseas investment until lawmakers see what the administration plans.

The only exception to the selective disengagement scenario is if China decides to take military action against Taiwan, in which case all is lost, according to Gallagher.

“I think people still tend to dismiss the possibility of a kinetic confrontation with China over Taiwan,” he said. “We still have questions we want to ask these companies and this was the beginning of a much broader and longer effort on the part of the select committee.”

Read more at Bloomberg.com