(로이터) - 만약 조 바이든 전 부통령이 미국 대통령 선거에서 승리한다면, 그의 약속은 자동차 배기가스에 대한 더 엄격한 규제에서 처방약 가격을 낮추는 것을 돕는 것으로까지 다양하다.
조 바이든 행정부에서 변화를 볼 수 있는 6개의 핵심 산업들이 여기에 있다. 도널드 트럼프 대통령이 선거에서 승리하고 연임할 경우 이들 부문이 어떻게 변화할 수 있는지에 대한 이야기를 보려면 클릭하십시오.
자동차 회사
바이든의 승리는 자동차 회사들이 다시 한번 더 강력한 탄소 배출 목표를 직면하게 할 것이다. 그러나 바이든이 전기차 세액공제 확대와 충전 인프라 자금조달 약속을 이행할 수 있다면 자동차 업계도 전기차 전환에 더 많은 도움을 받을 수 있을 것이다.
바이든은 캘리포니아의 무배출 차량 규칙의 법적 근거를 부활시키고, 2025년까지 연비와 탄소배출 요건을 완화하기로 한 트럼프 행정부의 결정을 뒤집는 과정을 시작하겠다고 공약했다.
자동차 회사들은 또한 연료 효율 요건을 충족하지 못해 훨씬 더 높은 처벌을 받을 수 있다. 트럼프 행정부는 이 같은 처벌 조치를 철회했는데 업계는 이를 통해 연간 최소 10억달러의 규정 준수 비용을 절감했다고 밝혔다. 그러나 지난 8월 연방항소법원은 행정소송을 번복했다.
그러나 바이든은 자동차 회사들이 오랫동안 주장해온 정책 조치인 EV를 구입하기 위한 리베이트와 전기 자동차 충전소의 극적인 확대를 포함한 새로운 세금 혜택을 약속했다.
바이든이 선택한 환경보호청과 도로교통안전청 운영은 자동차 산업에 중추적인 역할을 할 것이다. EPA의 강력한 기후조치 옹호자 및 NHTSA의 차량 안전에 대한 강력한 집행자는 4년간의 비교적 손 떼 규제 후 자동차회사에 더 많은 압력을 가할 것이다. 자동차 회사들은 규제 재부팅을 이용하여 배출가스 및 안전 규제 둘 다의 현대화 사례를 추진하여 자율주행차와 같은 신기술의 배치를 가속화할 수 있다.
기술
바이든 전 부통령의 승리는 빅테크에 대한 규제를 풀지 못할 것으로 보인다. 일부 민주당 의원들은 알파벳 주식회사 구글, 애플, Amazon.com, 페이스북의 관행을 면밀히 조사하는데 있어서 트럼프 행정부보다 더 나아가기를 열망하고 있다. 지난달 구글을 상대로 제기한 법무부의 독점금지 소송은 계속될 것으로 보이며 확대될 수도 있다.
바이든 행정부와 민주당 의회는 또한 새로운 사생활 규제와 인터넷 회사들의 서비스에 게시된 콘텐츠에 대한 책임으로부터 인터넷 회사를 보호하는 핵심법의 개정을 의미할 수 있다. 그러나 기술회사들은 바이든 부통령 당선자 카말라 해리스 등 바이든 고문들 사이에 많은 친구가 있으며 새로운 법률을 타파하기 위해 열심히 싸울 것이다.
기술 부문의 가장 큰 변화는 중국과 무역 정책에 올 수 있다. 중국 소유의 틱톡(TikTok)의 운명은 취임일 이전에 봉인되지 않을 경우 바이든의 접근법을 조기에 시험하는 계기가 될 수 있다. 기술기업들은 바이든 행정부가 수많은 중국 기술기업을 제재하고 오랫동안 미국과 중국의 기술산업에 얽매여온 많은 유대를 끊으려 했던 트럼프보다 덜 대립적인 접근을 하기를 바라고 있다.
그러나 따뜻한 미중 관계로의 빠른 복귀를 기대하는 분석가는 거의 없다. 많은 민주당원들은 중국의 기술 산업이 보호받는 가정 시장, 정부 보조금, 경제 스파이로부터 부당하게 이익을 얻었다는 데 동의하며 기술 냉전이 계속될 것임을 시사하고 있다.
바이든 행정부 시절 노동 이민에 대한 트럼프 시대의 규제를 철회함으로써 기술 기업들은 혜택을 볼 수 있다.
그러나 바이든이 승리할 경우 세금은 더 늘어날 것이 거의 확실시된다. 기술기업들은 트럼프의 법인세율 인하에 가장 큰 수혜자 중 하나였으며, 바이든은 최소한 부분적으로나마 역전될 것으로 보인다. 벤처 투자가들과 다른 기술 투자자들 또한 만약 비평가들에 의해 부유층에 대한 기부로 여겨지는 논란이 되고 있는 세법의 "이율" 조항이 없어질 경우 타격을 입을 수 있다.
제약
제약업계는 바이든이 대통령에 당선될 경우 더욱 가능성이 높은 미국의 약가 인하를 저지하기 위해 수백만 달러를 로비활동과 선거공헌에 쏟아 부었다.
바이든은 마약 비용을 줄이고 미국 정부의 건강보험 프로그램인 메디케어(Medicare)가 약값을 협상할 수 있도록 하겠다고 공언해왔다. 그는 그러한 법안을 통과시키기 위해 의회 민주당원들로부터 지지를 받고 있는데, 의회 예산국은 2029년까지 이 산업에 3,000억 달러 이상의 비용이 들 수 있다고 말했다.
업계에 한 가지 좋은 점은 정부가 운영하는 건강보험 옵션의 창설을 통해 더 많은 미국인들에게 건강보험 혜택을 확대하겠다는 바이든의 약속으로 인해 더 많은 사람들이 마약을 구입할 수 있게 되어 제약회사들의 제품에 대한 수요를 증가시킬 수 있다는 것이다.
Factbox: A Biden presidency could bring better gas mileage, cheaper drugs, less doom scrolling
Tue, November 3, 2020, 8:02 PM GMT+9
(Reuters) - If former Vice President Joe Biden wins the race for the U.S. president, his promises to change Corporate America range from more strict regulation on auto emissions to helping lower prices for prescription medicine.
Here are six key industries that could see change under a Joe Biden Administration. For a story on how these sectors might change under if President Donald Trump wins the election and get a second term in office, click.
AUTOMAKERS
A Biden victory would make it likely that automakers will once again face tougher carbon emissions targets. But the auto industry could also get more help with a transition to electric vehicles if Biden can deliver on promises to expand electric vehicle tax credits and fund charging infrastructure.
Biden has pledged if elected to reinstate the legal basis for California’s zero-emission vehicle rules and begin the process of reversing the Trump administration’s decision to ease fuel efficiency and carbon emission requirements through 2025.
Automakers could also face sharply higher penalties for failing to meet fuel-efficiency requirements. The Trump administration rolled back those penalties, which the industry said saved at least $1 billion in annual compliance costs. But a federal appeals court in August reversed the administration action.
However, Biden has promised new tax incentives including rebates to buy EVs and a dramatic expansion of charging stations for electric vehicles - policy measures automakers have long advocated.
Biden's picks to run the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be pivotal for the auto industry. A strong advocate of climate action at EPA, and a tough enforcer on vehicle safety at the NHTSA would put more pressure on automakers after four years of relatively hands-off regulation. Automakers could try to use the regulatory reboot to push their case for modernization of both emissions and safety regulations to speed deployment of new technology such as autonomous vehicles.
TECH
A Biden win isn’t likely to lift the regulatory cloud over Big Tech, with some Democrats eager to go even further than the Trump Administration in scrutinizing practices at Alphabet Inc’s Google, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc. The Justice Department antitrust lawsuit against Google, filed last month, is expected to continue and could even be broadened.
A Biden Administration and a Democratic Congress could also mean new privacy regulations and a revision of a key law that protects internet companies from liability for the content posted on their services. But tech companies have many friends among Biden advisors, including vice president-elect Kamala Harris, and will fight hard to water down any new laws.
The biggest changes for the tech sector could come on China and trade policy. The fate of China-owned TikTok, if not sealed before Inauguration Day, could be an early test of Biden’s approach. Tech companies hope a Biden administration will take a less confrontational approach than Trump, who has sanctioned numerous Chinese tech firms and pushed to sever many of the ties that have long bound U.S. and Chinese tech industries.
Few analysts expect a quick return to warm U.S.-China relations, however. Many Democrats agree that China's tech industry has unfairly benefitted from a protected home market, government subsidies and economic espionage, suggesting the tech cold war will continue.
Tech companies do stand to benefit from a rollback of Trump-era restrictions on worker immigration under a Biden Administration.
But a Biden win will almost certainly mean a higher tax bill: tech companies were among the biggest beneficiaries of Trump’s reduction in corporate income tax rates, which Biden is expected to reverse at least in part. Venture capitalists and other tech investors may also take a hit if the controversial "carried interest" provision of the tax code, regarded by critics as a giveaway to the rich, is eliminated.
PHARMACEUTICALS
The pharmaceutical industry has spent millions on lobbying and campaign contributions to head off a push by Congress to slash U.S. drug prices, a possibility that would become more likely if Biden is elected President.
Biden has vowed to reduce drug costs and to allow Medicare, a U.S. government health insurance program, to negotiate drug prices. He has support from Congressional Democrats to pass such legislation, which the Congressional Budget Office has said could cost the industry more than $300 billion by 2029.
One silver lining for the industry is that Biden's promise to expand health insurance coverage to more Americans through the creation of a government run health insurance option could lead to more people being able to afford drugs, boosting demand for drugmakers' products.
MINING
A Biden victory would likely mean an increase in domestic production of lithium, copper and other metals used to make electric vehicles, solar panels and other products crucial to his climate plan.
Where such mines will be developed, though, and how large they will be is likely to be a major point of conflict within a new Biden administration, with his climate plan seemingly at odds with his push to boost U.S. manufacturing.
Biden said little about mining during the presidential campaign, either for or against. But his campaign has been privately telling U.S. miners it would support increased domestic mining, sources have told Reuters.
At the same time, Biden has launched lofty goals of making the U.S. a carbon-neutral nation by 2035, a plan that can only be achieved with wind turbines, solar panels and other materials made from mined rock.
MEDIA
News organizations may see a dip in their audiences if voters elect Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, a career politician whose time in office suggests he is less likely to break presidential norms than Donald Trump.
Biden, who was first elected to the U.S. senate in 1972, has a track record of not generating headlines as frequently as Trump. He is less incendiary than Trump and to date has not used social media to frequently attack rivals or retweet unproven theories, as Trump has.
Yet even if a Biden presidency introduces a return to politics-as-usual, without the uncertainty that characterized much of the past four years, Trump could still generate headlines, via potential post-White House legal battles or remarks on his own platform.
According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair and Business Insider, investors aligned with the Trump family are exploring opportunities to fund a conservative media venture or Trump-themed media outlet.
If Biden wins, Fox Corp-owned Fox News could still attract a large audience, with the Democratic president’s critics rallying the network’s largely conservative base. More liberal viewers may have less reason to watch AT&T Inc-owned CNN and Comcast Corp's MSNBC, where anchors such as Don Lemon and Rachel Maddow have covered Trump’s misdeeds with outrage since he took office.
To be sure, other national crises will still drive the news cycle no matter who gets elected. With a COVID-19 vaccine not expected to be generally available in the United States until mid-2021, Americans are likely to experience continued travel and other restrictions - homebound and seeking clarity from the media about what happens next.
RETAIL/TRADE
U.S. President Trump has imposed $370 billion in tariffs on goods imported from China, part of his "America First" agenda. Those tariffs on products ranging from handbags to small electronics are estimated to have cost U.S. importers some $61.6 billion through early September, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and have been blamed for eroding U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Retailers argue the tariffs will result in higher prices for consumers and lost jobs.
“If Biden wins, we expect that he will look to reevaluate the current strategy on trade," said Jonathan Gold, National Retail Federation Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy.
In general, retailers need a trade policy that provides certainty and stability as they plan supply chains to meet customer needs in a time when COVID-19 is creating more uncertainty, Gold said.
(Reporting by Helen Coster, Lisa Baertlein, Carl O'Donnell, Paresh Dave, Tina Bellon and David Shepardson; Editing by Edward Tobin)