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Big tech finishing the trading day higher. That's after tariff whiplash unfolding today, with reports that a tariff on China could go down. But then Treasury Secretary Scott Benson pouring cold water on that, saying the White House was not considering lowering the 145% tariff, at least not before some kind of negotiations or peace offering from China. Jason Oxman is CEO and president of the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents some of these big, big tech companies. So, Jason, what are you hearing from your members? I can't imagine they're terribly pleased right now, even though there are exemptions on a number of electronics that some of them make. But how are they even approaching this administration?

Well, Julie, you're right. It is a fluid situation. It does seem to change quite frequently. But the long-term strategy of the Trump administration, and the president himself, is very clear, and it's one that we embrace. And that is entering into trade agreements with our trading partners around the world. And that's a positive direction from the tech industry's perspective. American companies lead the world in innovation, and those trade agreements will allow us to access the 95% of the people who live on the planet who are not in the United States. So really important markets overseas, but also an opportunity to engage in bilateral agreements. And that's the direction that the president has said that he wants to move us, and we take him at his word.

Do you think actually, again, the focus has been overly on sort of the tariffs that the US is putting on, and not necessarily on what other countries may do to us? Or do we, from your point of view from the tech side, is it really that bilateral negotiation that's going to kind of push us forward in a more positive way?

Well, Dave, I think that's a good question, and it highlights why we're eager to move into the phase where we're negotiating the trade agreements, and away from tariffs, which, of course, are, in the short term, sometimes a useful tool. But in the long term, there are no replacements for trade agreements. This was the challenge during the Biden administration, frankly. How many trade agreements did we enter into during the Biden administration? Zero. Yet he had tariffs in place without any long-term strategy behind it. I think the question of the application of tariffs, and whether they work in one direction or both directions, just highlights the fact that nobody wins in a trade war. And that's why we're eager to see a move toward negotiation. And the early signs, I think, that those negotiations are taking place and will be successful, particularly with our closest trading partners. I think those early signs are positive, and that's why you're seeing a lot of positive momentum and a lot of enthusiasm for the direction that the Trump administration is taking this trade strategy.

Jason, what are those early signs? I don't know, I don't know what's, I mean, I keep thinking about this. Ken Griffin spoke today at a Semaphore event of Citadel, and he basically said that this whole situation is doing brand damage to America. He talked about the people are not going to be racing to build factories and manufacturing in America. He said with the policy volatility, you actually undermine the very goal you're trying to achieve. What are the sign, like, what are the signs that negotiations are starting to happen?

Well, I was at that Semaphore event today, and I agree. It's important that the world look to the United States as the innovation leader. And I would dispute the notion that investment in American manufacturing isn't happening. You know, within 24 hours of the president being inaugurated, the very first business announcement in the Oval Office was three of our member companies, OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, announcing a $500 billion commitment to investing in AI and data centers in the United States. You've seen companies like TSMC commit, on top of what they're already doing in Arizona, another $100 billion. You've seen investment announcements from Apple, $500 billion. Even European companies, Siemens, Schneider Electric...

Is that stuff being built yet, Jason? I mean, these are all commitments. They're commitments, so we don't know if they would have been made in any case. But, you know, yes, TSMC has started building some of this stuff. We don't know if OpenAI would have done it regardless. You know, it just seems like it is a counterproductive strategy to getting though, and those commitments were made before the tariffs.

Well, that's absolutely right. And those commitments were made within the last 90 days. So, certainly to your question, nothing has been completed within the 90 days that those announcements have been made. And this does highlight why a longer-term horizon is really important. The tariffs that we've been talking about, hopefully those are a short-term solution as we move to trade deals that incentivizes companies to manufacture in the US. And there are two prongs to that: Trade, you know, trade is bilateral or multilateral, and it moves in both directions. You know, 56% of the imports into the United States today are components that go into manufacturing in the United States. They're not finished products. They're things that are necessary for manufacturing taking place here in the US. So we need that trade to flow into the US. And then, of course, as I noted before, most of the people who live on the planet don't live in the US, and those markets outside of the US are very important for US manufacturers to be able to access. So you're right, these things take time. Semiconductors is a great example. It takes three to four years to build a semiconductor fab. So we're not talking about something that's going to happen in a few months. That's why we have time to work these things out. And I think if we're working them in a positive direction, we can get this manufacturing renaissance and global technology leadership that the administration is working on that we want to see as well.