European tech executives and diplomats privately complain US sanctions on Huawei shut them out of the Chinese market while offering exceptions for US companies
Business says EU groups are losing out on licences to sell to blacklisted Chinese companies — European tech executives … Tweets: @anupamchander , @pastynome , @j_b_c16 , @chadbown , @peterkirkegaard , @ftchina , @yuanfenyang , @marchofer , @skellyceo , and @c_szabla Tweets: @anupamchander : US sanctions seem to be hastening European firms' efforts to be less dependent on US technology, @YuanfenYang reports in the @FT. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Phryne Astynome / @pastynome : Will the EU help the US with export controls if the US continuously abuse its sanction powers and favor its own companies? https://twitter.com/... John Lee / @j_b_c16 : ""Europe must be careful not to be crushed..." “They are now wondering how to manufacture in China without semiconductors from the US, anticipating that the US will stop them exporting certain types of chips to China” #techcoldwar https://www.ft.com/... @FT Chad P. Bown / @chadbown : More downside to US unilateralism. Even to protect national security. European semiconductor and equipment makers accuse US of using export controls on Huawei and SMIC to shut them out of the Chinese market, while exempting US companies. By @YuanfenYang https://www.ft.com/... Peter Bay Kirkegaard / @peterkirkegaard : It's unacceptable that #EUbiz are prevented from selling to Chinese tech companies subject to US-sanctions, while US government gives licenses to #USbiz to trade with same Chinese companies. https://www.ft.com/... @ftchina : Many European chip-producing businesses that rely on American intellectual property are accusing the US of using its sanctions regime to shut them out of China's market https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/... Yuan Yang / @yuanfenyang : There's US China sanctions, and then there are all the third parties caught in the middle. As one European tech exec said to me: it's easy to see sanctions as an “America First” trade policy when US firms get licences first. My latest w @QianerLiu @ft https://www.ft.com/... Marc Hofer / @marchofer : Trump being tough on China seems to be not so tough: “So far, US companies have been given licences to supply Huawei, while European suppliers cannot,” https://www.ft.com/... Stephen Kelly / @skellyceo : European tech executives and diplomats are accusing the US of using its sanctions regime to shut them out of the Chinese market while offering exemptions for American companies #China #Sanctions #Regulation https://www.ft.com/... Christopher Szabla / @c_szabla : When sanctions become protectionism: European companies accuse the US of granting exemptions to restrictions to its own companies to trade with Chinese firms while not giving them the same opportunities https://www.ft.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This complaint lands at the end of a year in which the costs of Washington's Huawei campaign spread well past US borders. Back in June 2019, Beijing had already summoned US and global tech giants to warn of dire consequences for cooperating with the Trump bans, hinting that American firms should lobby against them (China summoned US and global tech giants). By mid-2020, Japanese companies were stepping in to help build China's $150B national 5G network, explicitly filling the void left by sanctioned suppliers.
What changed by December 2020 is who is voicing the grievance: European executives and diplomats argue the licence regime shuts EU groups out of selling to blacklisted Chinese companies while carving out exceptions for US competitors — an asymmetry that turns a security policy into a competitive handicap for America's closest trading partners.
First-order effects
- European tech suppliers lose licence access to blacklisted Chinese customers such as Huawei, ceding revenue to US firms that obtain exceptions to keep selling.
Second-order effects
- Non-US suppliers move into the gap: Japanese companies had already begun helping China build its $150B 5G network where US-sanctioned vendors withdrew, and the FT reporting notes sanctions are hastening European firms' efforts to reduce dependence on US technology.
Third-order effects
- If exemption asymmetry persists, allied alignment on export controls frays — echoed later when Sony's CTO and NEC's CEO questioned whether US chip controls work beyond the short term — pushing China and third-country suppliers toward supply chains designed to route around US jurisdiction.
The trend: Unilateral US export controls are driving substitution rather than isolation, as allies and Chinese buyers alike re-architect supply chains to reduce dependence on US technology.