U.S. Ambassador to\u00a0the EU\u00a0Andrew Puzder told the Financial Times that European companies would face \u201cdevastating\u201d retaliation from Washington if\u00a0Brussels moves forward with plans to\u00a0restrict American competitors\u2019 access to\u00a0parts of\u00a0the European market.<\/p>\n
The dispute centers on\u00a0a\u00a0European Commission proposal to\u00a0reserve part of\u00a0the radio spectrum that lets smartphones connect directly to\u00a0satellites for European companies, a\u00a0move that would restrict spectrum access for Chinese and American companies, including SpaceX.<\/p>\n
Asked whether European companies should fear retaliation, Puzder said they \u201cshould be\u00a0wary that it\u00a0could happen and it\u00a0would be\u00a0very devastating for those companies,\u201d given the size of\u00a0the American market.<\/p>\n
Puzder said that if\u00a0the goal \u201cis\u00a0to\u00a0make United States less competitive, I\u00a0think that that\u2019s not a\u00a0legitimate goal of\u00a0this kind of\u00a0legislation.\u201d \u201cYou don\u2019t make European companies more competitive by\u00a0making US\u00a0companies less competitive,\u201d he\u00a0added.<\/p>\n
SpaceX has sharply criticized the European Commission\u2019s proposal, warning that the move risks degrading communications quality in\u00a0Ukraine, where Starlink plays a\u00a0critical role.<\/p>\n
On\u00a0October 14, Ukrainian military officials reported restrictions affecting the operation of\u00a0Starlink satellite communication terminals, or\u00a0more precisely, their military version, Starshield. The restrictions emerged amid growing tension between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump, who, however, claims<\/a> he\u00a0did not order the terminals\u2019 operation restricted. The Telegraph\u2019s sources said<\/a> that SpaceX head Elon Musk proposed restricting Starlink\u2019s operation in\u00a0Ukraine to\u00a0Trump, and the U.S. president agreed.<\/p>\n At\u00a0Meduza, we\u00a0are committed to\u00a0transparency about our use of\u00a0artificial intelligence in\u00a0the newsroom. The story you\u2019re reading was written by\u00a0one of\u00a0our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an\u00a0AI\u00a0model configured to\u00a0follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is\u00a0the result of\u00a0extensive testing and refinements to\u00a0ensure our English-language coverage is\u00a0timely and accurate. A\u00a0Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.<\/p>\n If\u00a0you find any errors in\u00a0this translation, please contact us\u00a0at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n