OPINION:
The global economy has entered a new phase, one defined not by innovation alone but also by speed, scale and coordinated, state-backed execution.
The countries that “win” artificial intelligence will win because they have the chips, data centers, advanced manufacturing, capital, talent and the right alliances. The United States faces a narrowing window to lead.
Competitors are moving aggressively. China has the most sophisticated industrial policy model: state-backed financing, government subsidies, domestic content requirements and export controls embedded in its five-year plans and “Made in China 2025.”
China has provided more than $200 billion in semiconductor support over the past decade, alongside preferential energy pricing and integrated supply chains. It is rapidly expanding electricity capacity to power AI and advanced manufacturing at scale.
India offers a different model. Its Production-Linked Incentive programs commit more than $26 billion across electronics, batteries and solar manufacturing, all tied directly to output. It is positioning itself as a primary alternative to China and a dominant hub of AI talent.
Mexico leverages proximity and pragmatism: USMCA, IMMEX and maquiladora programs offer duty-free imports, reduced taxes and lower labor costs, making the country a top global foreign direct investment destination from 2023 to 2024, driven by nearshoring.
These countries are not waiting for markets to decide outcomes. They are shaping them, with speed and intentional industrial policy.
The United States has begun to respond. Federal agencies now recognize what is undeniable: Industrial policy today is fundamentally (and literally) about power.
The defining constraint of the next decade will be energy.
U.S. data centers could consume up to 8% of national electricity demand by 2030, double today’s levels. AI workloads are more volatile and power-dense than traditional data centers, placing greater strain on transmission and grid infrastructure. Advanced manufacturing compounds the pressure on an aging, bottlenecked infrastructure.
This cannot continue if the U.S. wants to win.
This is where industrial policy, AI policy and energy strategy must converge — and where the U.S. must move faster.
A robust industrial policy is not separate from President Trump’s agenda of energy abundance and AI dominance; it is foundational to it. Without a parallel build-out of generation, transmission and grid technology, the United States cannot support the AI and industrial growth required to lead.
The administration’s recent request for information on advanced manufacturing is an opportunity to align federal agencies, unlock private capital and clear deployment bottlenecks. Executed properly, it will move from strategy to action.
Three priorities should drive that action. First, we must dramatically accelerate permitting for energy and industrial infrastructure. America’s broken permitting system is costing manufacturers in America $7.9 billion each year, according to a recent report by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Foundation for American Innovation.
Projects that take five to 10 years to approve should move in 18 to 36 months. If Congress does not act on federal permitting reform, then the White House must use every available executive lever. Investment flows to the fastest-moving jurisdictions.
Second, we must tie industrial incentives directly to speed and scale. Tax incentives, grants and financing mechanisms should reward domestic production, energy optimization, automation, digitalization and AI adoption, as well as rapid workforce development.
Third, we need a disciplined “America First” approach to strategic partnerships with countries that strengthen American competitiveness, including India, Mexico, key European allies and energy-rich partners such as the United Arab Emirates. Cooperation should focus on critical supply chains, skilled labor and large-scale energy deployment — solar, nuclear and next-generation data center infrastructure — to reduce dependence on China while accelerating domestic capacity.
Finally, the White House should convene a standing industrial strategy council of capital allocators across energy, manufacturing, finance and technology. Policy cannot succeed without the operators executing it.
The stakes are clear. Without faster, more coordinated action, the U.S. risks ceding leadership in the industries that will define the next century: advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and energy systems. Enacting a bolder industrial policy to realize energy abundance and AI leadership ensures that AI becomes a tool of progress for all Americans, not a prize won by those who moved faster with fewer guardrails.
The window is narrow, the pace is accelerating, and the competition is moving faster with fewer limitations. It is time for the United States to lead a bolder industrial policy and move faster.
• Jeannie Salo is CEO and founder of Salo Strategic Advisors and Big Tent Energy.
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