Trump administration marshals allies for 6G race with China

The Trump administration on Monday will launch a global partnership with more than 20 allies to accelerate the development of secure 6G wireless networks, officials first shared with POLITICO, as Washington seeks to blunt China’s influence over the next generation of telecommunications. The initiative includes countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, and is intended to help coordinate governments’ 6G strategies years before the technology is expected to begin replacing 5G networks in the 2030s. It establishes points of contact across participating governments, shares technical resources and lays the groundwork for commercial deployment. It also advances President Donald Trump’s push for U.S. leadership in 6G after last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act charted a path to advance next-generation wireless networks, and a December presidential memorandum that directed diplomatic coalition building. The effort is intended to serve as a counterweight to China’s telecom ambitions and the global reach of companies such as Huawei and ZTE. Officials see closer collaboration with allies as critical to shaping international technical standards ahead of next year’s World Radiocommunication Conference in Shanghai, where countries will negotiate key decisions affecting the future of wireless networks. “Today’s action recognizes that 6G will be dramatically different from 5G, and that advancing U.S. and allied leadership requires a dramatically different playbook,” Arielle Roth, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is spearheading the initiative, said in a statement. “By working now with trusted partners, we will ensure that next generation networks reflect our shared security interests, strengthen our competitiveness, and drive innovation.” The partnership could help the U.S. navigate global tumult, including the ongoing war with Iran and discontent over Trump’s aggressive tariff policies. Roth first teased the effort on stage in March during a POLITICO event, cautioning against embracing “a legacy model built around censorship, surveillance and control.” On Monday, she said the call reflects “an unprecedented level of international coordination on the future of communications technology.” The race to build 5G networks pitted the U.S. against China over national security concerns. The U.S. declared Chinese telecom companies to have distinct risks and spent many years, dating back to the first Trump term, urging allied countries to avoid partnering with Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE over concerns about the untrustworthiness of their gear. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars paying telecom companies to rip Huawei and ZTE equipment from networks in rural parts of the country. The initial list of governments also affirming the 6G partnership includes Albania, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Paraguay, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom. “We are committed to promoting approaches to 6G that deliver an open, interoperable, secure, resilient, AI-supported, highly innovative, and resource efficient global communications system, with like-minded nations both leading in and benefiting from the most sophisticated wireless connectivity available,” the call to action reads. “We must take concrete steps to strengthen our 6G supply chains, accelerate innovation, and ensure that the future of wireless communications is shaped by like-minded nations.” The call emphasizes the governments’ desire to develop “strong baselines for the security and resilience of our networks” and work collaboratively to develop such open, secure systems with industry, academics and other parties. It said that countries’ specific steps in fostering 6G will vary but outlined certain collective commitments in developing this next generation of wireless architecture. It includes ben