Banned component sales. A blocked $142bn chip takeover. Fresh concessions demanded on a second chip deal. If this is just the warm-up, the US-China tech wars look likely, in the words of one consultant, to wreak “economic carnage” on both sides of the Pacific.
Such disputes are rooted in US anxiety over China’s tech power and the methods it employs to amass it. They are set to intensify with Washington’s Section 301 investigation into the alleged Chinese theft of US intellectual property and practice of forcing technology transfers from foreign investors.
Early strikes have hit at hardware companies, including smartphone and telecoms equipment maker Huawei, which has served as a lightning rod for US fears about Chinese snooping and state largesse, and rival ZTE. Huawei denies its technology is used for surveillance.