The U.S. threatens Europe with "devastating" retaliation in the event of restrictions on Starlink

 European companies would face "devastating" retaliation from Washington if Brussels moves forward with plans to restrict access for U.S. rivals, such as SpaceX, to certain sectors of the bloc's market, warned Andrew Puzder, the U.S. Ambassador to the EU.

The warning follows a proposal by the European Commission this year to reserve a portion of the spectrum band, which allows smartphones to connect directly to satellites, exclusively for European companies. This would limit the frequencies available to Chinese and U.S. firms, including the company owned by Elon Musk, which operates the Starlink satellite network.

 When asked whether European entities should fear reprisals, Puzder told the Financial Times that "they should be aware that this could happen and that it would be very devastating for those companies," given the scale of the North American market.

"If the purpose is to make the United States less competitive, I don't believe that is a legitimate objective for this type of legislation," the senior diplomat stated. "You don't make European companies more competitive by making American ones less so," he emphasized, adding that the U.S. offers "best-in-class products in this field." "They are reliable products, products that are trusted. We don't need any form of synchronized mediocrity," he added.