America's competitors angle for Silicon Valley's business

Countries like Mexico, Canada, China are salivating over Trump administration's rumblings

With his frequent refrains about Mexicans and the need for a wall to contain them, it’s no surprise that President Trump has made few friends in Mexico.

Yet here in the capital of Jalisco State, sometimes referred to as Mexico’s Silicon Valley, people are practically celebrating him.

“He’s helping us a lot!” Governor Aristóteles Sandoval exclaimed. “He’s put us on the world’s agenda.”

As part of Trump’s efforts to push an America-first philosophy, he has vowed to restrict the availability of special visas that are widely used by technology companies to hire talent from around the world.

Trump’s plans, combined with an American political climate that has left many immigrants feeling less welcome, has cast a pall of uncertainty over the American tech industry, which relies heavily on highly skilled workers from abroad.

But while entrepreneurs and executives in the United States are fretting, other countries — including Mexico, Canada and China — are salivating over the Trump administration’s rumblings.

Silicon Valley’s loss, they say, could be their gain.

In recent months, foreign governments and tech industry leaders have sought to capitalise on the uncertainty in Silicon Valley. They are stepping up their efforts to attract engineers and entrepreneurs who might rely on the special American visa programme, known as H-1B, to work or to run businesses in the United States.

“It’s an exciting time,” said Brad Duguid, the minister of economic development in Ontario, where the capital, Toronto, is one of Canada’s biggest tech hubs. “And while it’s unfortunate that the US is looking more internally, far be it from us not to take advantage of that.” In June, Canada set up a new visa program that makes it easier for companies to recruit highly skilled foreign workers. Under the program, which was in development before Trump’s election victory, the Canadian government has promised to approve two-year visas in less than two weeks — blindingly fast, compared with the process in the United States.

©2017 The New York Times News Service