America’s innovation edge over China relies on openness and deep collaboration with global talent, especially India. Unlike China’s state-driven, self-contained model, U.S. leadership has grown from integrating international engineers into its tech, AI, and space ecosystems. Indian talent plays a central role in co-creating American technological advances, from cloud platforms to joint space missions. Tariffs and restrictive trade policies risk undermining this partnership, effectively taxing America’s own innovation engine. In a world where talent, services, and knowledge drive power, isolating India weakens U.S. competitiveness rather than slowing China.