Sanctions and Trade Wars
The Obama administration initiated the tech war’s early skirmishes with investigations into Chinese telecom giant ZTE for allegedly violating sanctions and illegally exporting US technology to sanctioned nations. However, the conflict truly intensified under the Trump administration.
In 2017, ZTE was hit with a hefty fine, followed by increased scrutiny on Huawei amid concerns about espionage. China’s National Intelligence Law, passed that same year, further stoked these anxieties by requiring domestic and foreign subsidiaries of Chinese companies to hand over data to the government upon request.
These concerns culminated in Huawei’s addition to the Entity List, effectively severing its access to US technology and barring it from participating in America’s 5G network rollout. This move was mirrored by bans on other Chinese companies like ZTE.
The tech war transcended the realm of telecom as President Trump imposed hefty tariffs on $60 billion worth of Chinese goods, including solar panels, aiming to challenge China’s stronghold in this pivotal green technology sector.
