• markr@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    The 5G bullshit started because Huawei was ahead of everyone else in 5G tech. First the Obama administration, then Trump, then Biden all attempted to cripple Huawei’s ability to produce 5g commodities in order to protect the development of domestic production.

    What is remarkable is how quickly the US discarded the ‘free trade’ pillar of its neoliberal ideology as a competitive threat to a critical technology emerged. The actual ideological principal is hegemony, not ‘free trade’.

    • Heavybell@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      The US was only pro free trade because it let them use their tech advantage (printing presses at the time) to flood less developed nations with their products and propaganda. :P

    • P1r4nha@feddit.de
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      11 months ago

      It’s free trade when they need/want market access and everything else when they need to defend their lead. The semi-conductor business in Taiwan is similar.

    • Evil_Shrubbery
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      11 months ago

      Always has been.

      Lots more examples in financial industry, literally supported by the war machine (and covert machine, and lobbies, exploiting political influence, etc). And ofc oil & some other commodities, farming, car production, etc.

      It’s just that till now tech only needed help (to achieve more profits) in sense of deregulation and outsourcing labor to developing countries … which you know, developed.

    • GenEcon
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      11 months ago

      If its just about the technology, why are Nokia and Erricson not allowed to provide infrastructure for the Chinese net?

    • chitak166@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      US only plays fair when it makes the rules.

      It will always change the rules to suit its goals.