FCC’s Brendan Carr Tells Europe to Choose Between US and China on Tech

To top U.S. official warned that the EU should be worried about the Chinese Communist Party’s version of Elon Musk’s satellite system, Starlink.

Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 5, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said Europe needs to choose between U.S. and Chinese technology.

The top U.S. official told the Financial Times on April 14 that Europe needed to “focus on the real long-term bogey: the rise of the Chinese Communist [Party].”

Carr told the publication that Europe was “caught” between Washington and Beijing and warned of a “great divide” opening up between “CCP-aligned countries and others” in artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite technology.

Ukraine has been using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system to maintain communications on the frontlines in its conflict with Russia.

However, Musk caught the ire of Ukraine-supporting EU leaders in early March after he wrote on his social media platform X that Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse” if he turned off his satellite internet service Starlink there.

“If SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski responded on X.

The European Union is not currently pursuing Chinese satellite internet technology. Instead, the European Commission is developing a competitor to Musk’s system and similar networks. 

Still, there have been instances of collaboration between the EU and China in the field of satellite navigation.

For example, in 2017, the EU–China partnership was featured on the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) website, highlighting efforts to connect European companies with China’s Location-Based Services (LBS) Association.

LBS is a group operating under the oversight of multiple Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ministries to promote mapping and tracking technology across China.

According to a 2023 report by German-based think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies, China and Europe are “becoming more important AI research partners.”

It notes that many European–Chinese AI research outputs “have military or surveillance applications,” including collaborations on target tracking, cybersecurity, and biometric recognition with “risky entities in China.”

“If you’re concerned about Starlink, just wait for the CCP’s version, then you’ll be really worried,” Carr told the Financial Times.

“If Europe has its own satellite constellation then great, I think the more the better. But more broadly, I think Europe is caught a little bit between the US and China. And it’s sort of time for choosing.”

The EU is currently negotiating tariffs with the United States. European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Monday that this would require a “significant joint effort” on both sides.

“In D.C., ... seizing the 90-day window for a mutual solution to unjustified tariffs,” Sefcovic wrote on X after meeting U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington.

“The EU remains constructive and ready for a fair deal - including reciprocity through our 0-for-0 tariff offer on industrial goods and the work on non-tariff barriers. Achieving this will require a significant joint effort on both sides.”

On April 9, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs, lowering them to 10 percent on most EU goods, but keeping higher rates (25 percent) on steel and aluminum.

At the same time, he raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 percent. In response, China hit back with new tariffs on U.S. imports, ranging from 84 percent to 125 percent, starting April 12.

The EU also paused its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum for 90 days.

During a phone call between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang on April 8, the EU leader called on China to ensure a “negotiated resolution” to U.S. tariffs, according to a published readout of the call.

The call was held in response to “the widespread disruption caused by the U.S. tariffs,” the readout said.

Von der Leyen “stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of [the] world’s largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field,” it said.

The two “took stock of bilateral and global issues” and ”discussed setting up a mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion and ensuring any developments are duly addressed,” it added.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the EU and China.