Technology as a negotiation lever.
Technology and critical materials are being and will be used as tools for negotiation:
NVIDIA H200 & Rare earth: In the recent past, United States banned the export of NVIDIA H20 GPUs to China an then withdrew the ban. ( NVIDIA AI CHIP SALE CHINA).
China responded by implementing strict license controls on export of Rare earth metals to USA and other countries. As of today, China controls >90% of the refining capacity for Rare Earth Materials. Given the requirement of Rare Earth Minerals as a critical component in most high tech electronics products, this move has the potential to cause serious chaos & conflict in society.
Recent reports indicate that the USA might have agreed to allow export of H200 to China in exchange for concessions on access to Rare Earth Minerals. However, China has explicitly forbidden companies like Alibaba & Tencent from importing these chips ( NVIDIA AI CHIP SALE CHINA BLOCK). This is being perceived in some quarters as an indirect push for these companies to develop similar chips in China.
Nxperia: In the recent past, China blocked export of Nxperia chips to Europe. All automotive manufactures in Europe were forced to suspend production lines and furlough (Kurzarbeit) their employees till the problem was sorted out. Manufacturing companies need to come out of the Just In Time (JIT) & Lean Manufacturing mindset and account for sudden disruption of supply chains by stock piling critical components.
How can EEU contribute:
Create a special working group with focus on crtical technologies like extraction and refinement of rare earth minerals.
EEU as a group of technical experts will identify gaps in core areas where currently there is a dependency on technologies from companies based outside the EU. EEU will also work as an active networking platform where member companies will be encouraged to form alliances and partnerships to develop technologies which are currently not available inside the EU.