President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20003
Dear Mr. President:
We are the small business founders, innovators, and independent developers building the technologies that power America’s digital economy. Through our collective voice along with ACT | The App Association, we represent the entrepreneurs who create software and connected tools used by millions of Americans every day. Together, we are asking for a policy environment that rewards and inspires innovation, expands access to capital, and enables companies like ours to create quality jobs and bring groundbreaking technologies to market.
The U.S. ecosystem we represent is valued at approximately $1.8 trillion and is responsible for 6.1 million American jobs.[1] App Association members are key drivers of a broader U.S. digital economy that, on its own, is the world’s eighth largest economy. Most of us have teams in the single digits, yet we drive productivity, competition, and opportunity across industries. Despite fueling so much of America’s innovation and growth, small businesses and startups are uniquely vulnerable to unexpected costs created by policies and regulatory barriers that were not crafted with our realities in mind.
To grow and compete globally, we must fill highly specialized technical roles that can be difficult to staff domestically. Like many small firms, we rely on H-1B talent to bring in skilled engineers, cybersecurity experts, and AI specialists who help us develop products that strengthen the U.S. economy and national security. Without access to this skilled workforce, our growth stalls, product timelines slip, and we are put in a competitive disadvantage against larger domestic and foreign firms.
The Administration’s recently announced $100,000 fee for each new H-1B visa applicant would be an insurmountable barrier for companies like ours. While large established companies may be able to pivot their hiring strategies or relocate operations, small businesses often have no such flexibility. If an American entrepreneur wants to start a business with a specific talented partner from overseas, the $100,000 fee will mean that business may never launch at all, or that American talent and companies will go abroad. The result is fewer startups, fewer jobs, and fewer American technologies competing on the global playing field.
We remain deeply committed to growing businesses and creating jobs here in America. Today, the app economy is an incredible means of creativity, opportunity, and empowerment driven by small American businesses that must be supported through domestic policies. Decades of research show that skilled foreign workers drive American productivity and complement domestic employees. We urge your Administration to reverse the $100,000 H-1B fee and consider balanced alternatives. Taking this step will ensure that small businesses and startups can fully contribute to your vision of a more competitive and innovative America.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We are eager to work with you to remove regulatory barriers and bolster the success of American small businesses.
Sincerely,
1564b |
365.Training |
Alchemy Security |
Busy Bee Studios |
Captain Tomorrow |
CheckTxt |
Colorado Technology Consultants |
For All Abilities |
Menopausey |
Metric Mate |
Optimize It LLC |
OxiWear |
PRIVO |
Quanthub |
Rimidi |
Scalesology |
Southern DNA |
SPENDiD |
Superset |
Traceless |
Vemos |
Youdle |
[1] ACT | The App Association, State of the App Economy (2022), https://actonline.org/wpcontent/uploads/APP-Economy-Report-FINAL.pdf.