The 45th President of the United States of America is Donald John Trump. That does not bode well for Silicon Valley.
President-elect Trump is a brilliant businessman and a great if not crass talker but he is not much of a tech-savvy person considering he calls the computer, "The Cyber".
Misnomers aside, Trump is a threat to the tech industry.
Trump vs the internet
"I sure as hell don't want to let people that want to kill us and kill our nation use our internet."
During the fifth Republican debate, Trump indicated that he sees "closing parts of the internet" as a good way to protect the country from ISIS threat. He believes that the terrorist group is recruiting through the internet and he intends to have Bill Gates and the other "brilliant people from Silicon Valley and other places figure out a way that ISIS can't do what they're doing".
When pressed, Trump explained that he is open to closing the internet in areas where ISIS is and in other "areas we are at war with".
Trump vs immigration
Silicon Valley supports the H-1B visa program which allows skilled workers from other countries to stay in the country. These talented people will have easier access to green cards as they work at Silicon Valley. The president-elect will not have any of that.
Gregory Autry, an assistant professor at USC's Marshall School of Business, believes prohibiting skilled workers from entering and staying in the country is not a good thing for the tech industry.
Trump vs NAFTA
"Tell NAFTA partners that we intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers. If they don't agree to a renegotiation, we will submit notice that the U.S. intends to withdraw from the deal."
The North American Free Trade Agreement lowers trade restrictions between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Trump contends that the deal made it easier for companies to move to Mexico affecting employment in the country. While his intentions may be good, his knowledge about the deal and its actual effect on the country is questionable.
For one, data shows trading with Mexico actually help the U.S. economy. A total of $214 billion worth of goods were sold in Mexico last year. On the other hand, buying from Mexico helped lower the inflation rate in the U.S.
Trump's tirade against the deal is something that "will be damaging to businesses as a whole", according to Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.
