London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

EU trade commissioner 'will call Trump's bluff' over Huawei security

EU trade commissioner 'will call Trump's bluff' over Huawei security

Phil Hogan convinced US president will not withdraw intelligence cooperation with UK and EU

The EU trade commissioner has said the UK can “call Donald Trump’s bluff” on threats to withdraw the US’s cooperation with the UK on intelligence and security over Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant.

Phil Hogan has also risked the wrath of the US president by declaring that the EU is not, in principle, opposed to giving the Chinese tech group access to 5G plans.

At a press conference in London he said the US did not have exclusivity on safety and security of its citizens, and predicted Trump would come round to the EU view that they had shared interests in that regard.

When asked how he felt about the US threat that the UK would lose access to US intelligence and counter-terrorism security strategy if it did not “fall into line” and bloc the Chinese from the cellular network, Hogan was blunt.

“I think that is a bit of sabre-rattling. I don’t think that will actually happen,” he said.



““We can call [Trump’s] bluff on that one [the US laying down conditions over Huawei],” he said.

Hogan is midway through his first official visit to Washington as the EU’s new trade commissioner.

In a satellite-linked interview at a Global Counsel trade conference with the former EU trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, he said the EU did not have an objection in principle to Huawei operating in Europe.

He added Europe would take a different approach, arguing that the best way was to “develop criteria in which people can trade fairly. We can’t say to Huawei, “you cannot come into the EU”, that’s not what we want.

“We don’t subscribe to the view that whatever you do you block Huawei.

“If they actually implement the rules of the game … all competition is welcome and must be fair,” said Hogan.

One danger, the US believes, is that its intelligence could be compromised because the UK has access to data under the “five eyes” pact and Huawei could be subject to Chinese state influence, something Huawei has denied.

Hogan said the EU and the US needed to cooperate on regulation on technology, otherwise both sides would lose to China.

He also said he believed the US and the EU could come to some agreement on a tax on digital companies such as Amazon and Google.

“Everybody accepts, including the US, there will be a global tax to deal with technology companies. It’s a question of how we define that and we criteria we end up with,” he said.

On Brexit he warned that it was impossible to agree a comprehensive new relationship with the UK by the December deadline set by Boris Johnson.

“Prime minister Johnson has said he wants everything concluded by the end of the year – it’s just not possible,” he said. “Especially when you have to make a decision about the transition period by the first of July.”

After the interview, Lord Mandelson told reporters that a narrow trade deal was possible by the end of the year but the strings attached to it might be unpalatable.

“I think we can get a bare bones agreement by the end of the year, which would envisage tariff-free and quota-free trade, but it would come at a price and I am not sure that the government would, given the political constraints, be willing to pay it.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×