SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — President-elect Trump’s relationship with Silicon Valley was not a heavily discussed matter during his campaign, the Bay Area’s tech community could now be left scrambling in the wake of his election.
While Trump has spent much of the past two years campaigning on the principles of firm immigration reform, the economic policies proposals he made on the campaign trail were not on the same pages as venture capitalists.
Gregory Autry of USC’s Marshall School of Business, speaking with Tech Crunch, said he believes the Trump administration will do plenty of favors to those who work in manufacturing positions, including high-tech manufacturing. However, he also believes some of Silicon Valley’s best companies will have a difficult time coping with some of the administration’s mandates.
Adding insult to injury for the Valley’s tech companies, Trump’s anti-China rhetoric could trigger an increase in the tariff of the Made in China products, as he had promised to return manufacturing to the U.S. Of the companies that could be hit hardest is Apple, who rely heavily on a global supply chain.
“That’s going to suck for them,” Autry said.
Trump has also, on multiple occasions, publicly lashed out against the current immigration system the U.S. has in place, saying it takes jobs away from U.S. workers. He made more than one mention to his administration doing away with the H-1B visa if he was elected, if he couldn’t scrap it, Trump said he would establish more laws to curb loopholes.
The Silicon Valley culture is “based on meritocracy, openness, and rationality is heading for a direct confrontation with blatant bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, and homophobia,” Trump was quoted as saying.
