Washington — According to a new white paper released today by The Computer & Communications Industry Association, the European Union Space Act (EUSA) could greatly hamper U.S. space competitiveness. As written, the EUSA would apply to U.S. companies regardless of whether they are based in the EU, imposing significant compliance costs, increasing market prices, reducing U.S. exports, and costing U.S. companies revenue. Despite current U.S. leadership in LEO satellites, in the long term, the U.S. risks losing its competitive edge in the space market to China.
The report finds that, through 2035, the EU Space Act could cumulatively:
- Reduce U.S. exports by as much as $2.8 billion;
- Reduce U.S. company revenues by as much as $3.6 billion;
- Reduce U.S. company pre-tax profits by as much as $8.5 billion; and
- Reduce U.S. Treasury tax receipts by as much as $1.5 billion.
The report concludes that the EUSA would risk increasing global costs for U.S. companies that require an EU presence to compete globally. In addition to the harm to the U.S. space industry, this result could also lead to a global competitive advantage for Chinese companies and adverse effects on U.S. national security. The harms could be mitigated by at least $1 billion and up to nearly $8 billion if the EU recognized most existing U.S. practices and international standards as substantially equivalent to EUSA compliance requirements.
The following can be attributed to CCIA’s Chief Economist and Director of the CCIA Research Center, Trevor Wagener:
“Securing an equivalence decision on existing U.S. practices and international standards can address most of the EU Space Act policy objectives while reducing compliance costs for U.S. companies by at least $1 billion.”
