US threatens Europe with ‘devastating’ retaliation if EU restricts SpaceX’s access to European market — Meduza

US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder told the Financial Times that European businesses would face “devastating” retaliation from Washington if Brussels goes ahead with its plan to restrict US competitors’ access to parts of the European market.

The dispute centers on a European Commission proposal to reserve part of the radio spectrum for European companies that allows smartphones to connect directly to satellites, a move that would restrict access to the spectrum for Chinese and American companies, including SpaceX.

Asked whether European companies should fear retaliation, Puzder said they “should be wary that this could happen and it would be very devastating for these companies,” given the size of the U.S. market.

Puzder said that if the goal “is to make the United States less competitive, I think that’s not a legitimate goal of this type of legislation.” “We do not make European companies more competitive by making American companies less competitive,” he added.

SpaceX sharply criticized the European Commission’s proposal, warning that the move risked degrading the quality of communications in Ukraine, where Starlink plays a vital role.

On October 14, Ukrainian military officials reported restrictions affecting the operation of Starlink satellite communications terminals, or more precisely its military version, Starshield. These restrictions appeared in a context of growing tensions between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump, who nevertheless claims not to have ordered the operation of the terminals to be restricted. The Telegraph’s sources said SpaceX chief Elon Musk proposed limiting Starlink’s operations in Ukraine to Trump, which the US president agreed to.