I'm not really an expert on this stuff, but I am an American, and I can honestly say that, if the US is dominating an industry, there should be things done that make it easier for other countries to step up.

We're all related, though some of us have different skin colors and a lot of us can't understand the stuff that comes out of other people's mouths(I'm talking language, not political opinions). If we're going to knock a country down, it should be because they've been doing some knocking down themselves.

If an action is expected to increase the sum total of misery in the world at large, it doesn't matter if it's beneficial locally, you shouldn't do it. Instead of a gas-guzzling SUV, think about a smaller car and spend the money on things like micro-loans for poor Africans, or invest in research that might not bear fruit, but seems like a good idea, and will remove a possible technological dead end at the very least.