This chapter offers a historical perspective on the export control regulations of the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM), shedding light on the role of economic interest groups in shaping the economic dimension of the Cold War. It focuses on the impact of the activities of the “Icebreakers” group on Britain’s position on COCOM’s export regulations concerning China in the 1950s. Scrutinizing how Chinese Communists supported the Icebreakers in UK–China trade, exploiting the competition between two business communities, the Icebreakers and the Old China hands, for access to the Chinese market, the chapter argues that it was British businessmen’s anti-embargo campaign that pushed the British government to abolish the China Differential list within COCOM in 1957. The nuanced and partly covert role the Icebreakers played during the process challenges simplistic narratives that center on the decision making of western governments in this context. Socialist countries and non-state actors involved in the East–West trade displayed their agency by (impactfully) manipulating the dynamic relations between business communities and western governments to promote an agenda corresponding with their counter-embargo objectives.