Why the Biden Administration Is Blocking Poland’s High-Tech Imports

Why did the Biden administration just flag Poland as a security risk for advanced semiconductors? Our analysis reveals the policy missteps fueling this diplomatic rift.

Last night, Polish media broke the unfortunate news that the Biden administration has imposed restrictions on Poland regarding the import of advanced microprocessors. As the financial portal Money.pl reported:

“The United States has added Poland to the list of countries subject to restrictions on importing advanced chips from the U.S. Polish experts are surprised by the decision of Joe Biden’s administration and at the same time concerned about this move. The development of artificial intelligence (AI) in Poland is now in doubt.”

Media outlets that favor the current liberal-left Polish government are framing this U.S. decision as an act of bad faith or even hostility. In fact, the Money.pl article title—“This is how the U.S. treated Poland. We ended up in a worse category of countries”—evidently builds this specific narrative. However, a careful look at the situation leaves little room for illusions. We have written about this many times on our blog. The actions of the Tusk government—especially regarding security policy—have eroded our allies’ trust in Poland. Additionally, within just a few months of coming into power, Tusk completely changed Poland’s international policy: good transatlantic relations deteriorated toward something resembling hostility, while the government fully oriented itself toward a “pro-EU” policy (effectively subordinate to Germany’s leadership).

During their recent years in power, the conservatives (PiS and their allies) achieved significant economic successes, dramatically raised the standard of living, and substantially expanded and modernized our military. Transatlantic relations reached historic highs under Donald Trump and remained equally strong at the start of Joe Biden’s term. Not everything was flawless, but a great deal of effort was put into reinforcing Poland’s security as NATO’s eastern flank (notably the installation of border fortifications following the hybrid attack by Russia and Belarus exploiting migrants). Poland also stood out as a key ally to Ukraine—facing Putler’s aggression—by providing hundreds of tanks, fighter jets, artillery, and combat vehicles, as well as welcoming millions of women and children fleeing the war. Yet a little over a year of pro-German Tusk’s government is throwing all of that away. Please don’t take the following analysis as an “I told you so.” Our country’s prosperity and success are our foremost concerns, and it’s deeply frustrating to watch Tusk and his team’s actions yield exactly the negative consequences we anticipated.

Joe Biden’s administration in the last days of it’s term has added Poland to the list of countries subject to restrictions on importing advanced chips from the U.S.