Barry Eichengreen: US export curbs on high-tech enablers have rarely worked
Starting in October 2022, the late lamented administration of President Joe Biden implemented restrictions on US exports of advanced semiconductors to China. Servan-Schreiber was worried about the invasion of Europe by US multinationals, with General Electric’s 1964 acquisition of the French computer company Machines Bull a prime example. In addition, French President Charles de Gaulle objected to US dominance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and refused to put France’s forces under joint command with other alliance members. This was the context of America’s decision in 1964 to deny licences for the export of advanced IBM and Control Data Corporation computers to the French Atomic Energy Commission. Plan Calcul was championed by de Gaulle himself, who saw a world-class military and a world-class economy as equally important for securing France’s status as a global power—for restoring its ‘grandeur.’ One cannot but be reminded of the aspirations of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his personal role in efforts to advance China’s high-tech supremacy.
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