Global Tech & Trade Policy Update

I’ve spent the last few days in Sussex discussing the ups and downs of the transatlantic relationship - a fitting backdrop for the policy crosswinds currently shaping trade, tech and security. That followed the madness of last week’s AI Impact Summit in Delhi, where governments and industry debated how to scale AI safely while ensuring its benefits are broadly shared.

Made in Europe - will the UK be in?

The U.K. is stepping up its lobbying effort to avoid being excluded from the EU’s proposed “Made in Europe” initiative and forthcoming Industrial Accelerator Act.

Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle is in Brussels making the case that deeply integrated U.K.–EU supply chains and goods exports should be recognised within the initiative’s framework. He is expected to sign a Competition Cooperation Agreement with Teresa Ribera, strengthening joint enforcement of competition rules to support businesses and protect consumers.

The Industrial Accelerator Act, expected to be published on March 4 after several delays, could restrict access to EU public tenders and state aid mechanisms to firms inside the single market. That would place U.K. companies at a structural disadvantage.

London’s argument is grounded in shared objectives: resilience against dumping, protection of supply chains, and maintaining industrial competitiveness. The publication of the draft text will mark the start of what is likely to be a prolonged negotiation.

Paris remains the hardest sell. French officials have indicated that countries outside the single market should not automatically benefit from instruments designed to reinforce it.

The next few weeks will determine whether “Made in Europe” becomes an inward-looking instrument or a flexible one.

The next UK–EU summit: early July

The next formal U.K.–EU summit is likely to take place in early July, according to EU Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.

These annual summits are designed to incrementally rebuild and stabilise the post-Brexit relationship. At the first meeting in 2025, both sides agreed to negotiate:

Most of those negotiations are expected to be nearing completion by the time leaders meet again.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has described the process as “iterative,” with additional areas potentially added over time.

U.S. tariffs: pause, not resolution

President Donald Trump has reversed his threat to increase new global tariffs to 15 percent, following the Supreme Court Decision last Friday.

The tariffs, imposed under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, will apply for 150 days while further investigations proceed under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act. After that, Congress may decide whether to extend them.

For British businesses, this preserves continuity under the existing regime. The U.K.–U.S. Economic Prosperity Deal continues to shield steel, aluminium, autos and aerospace from higher sectoral duties. Products outside those arrangements remain exposed.

The underlying uncertainty, however, has not dissipated. With narrow Congressional margins, longer-term clarity is unlikely.

Four years on: UK sanctions escalate

Marking four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.K. has announced its largest sanctions package since the early stages of the war.

The measures target dozens of entities across Russia’s military, banking and energy sectors. Forty-eight vessels linked to Russia’s shadow oil fleet have been designated, alongside 175 companies involved in the “2Rivers” illicit oil network.

The intent is to constrain the revenue streams sustaining Russia’s war economy and tighten enforcement against sanctions evasion.

Orbital data centres: the next compute frontier

While terrestrial industrial policy dominates headlines, a more radical shift may be emerging above them.

Over the past month, six American firms and at least one Chinese company have signalled interest in building orbital data centres. The appeal is clear: constant solar energy, abundant cooling capacity, and relief for strained national grids.

At Davos, Elon Musk described space-based AI infrastructure as a “no-brainer,” arguing it could become the cheapest location for compute. The energy demands of frontier AI models are already stressing power and water systems from India to Brazil to South Africa.

For countries with fragile grids, outsourcing energy-intensive AI training to orbit could appear attractive. But governance questions are profound.

If data is processed in orbit, which jurisdiction applies? The country of origin? The launch state? The satellite operator? The cloud provider?

From India’s AI Summit and Wilton Park’s transatlantic debates to Brussels’ industrial strategy, Washington’s tariff levers, sanctions enforcement, and even the prospect of infrastructure in orbit, one theme is constant: technology policy is increasingly economic security policy.

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