Representatives from the U.S. and European Union (EU) met to discuss transatlantic cooperation on issues of trade and technology, the White House (WH) announced recently.
Delegates met Dec 5. for the third Ministerial Meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC), the WH announced in a joint statement with the EU. U.S. Sec. of State Antony Blinken, Sec. of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Trade Rep. Katherine Tai co-chaired the summit along with European Commission (EC) Executive Vice Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis, the announcement reports.
Topics discussed included global challenges like Russia's war on Ukraine, digital infrastructure and technology, cooperation on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and "strong concerns" the EU has about the "discriminatory provisions and distortive subsidies" of the U.S.'s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to a statement by the EC.
US-EU Task Force on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“At the TTC working lunch, we discussed the Inflation Reduction Act," Blinken acknowledged in a Dec. 5 post to Twitter. "The United States and Europe can create good paying jobs and tackle the climate crisis — and not at each other's expense.”
EU policymakers are concerned about the impact of the IRA on their economies, especially provisions in the IRA relating to tax credits on electric vehicles. (EVs) of up to $7,500 on vehicles that are finally assembled in North America, among other restrictions, that disqualify a lot of European-made EVs from the tax credit, according to a November analysis by the Tax Foundation.
"All else equal, this discriminatory distinction will make cars that are eligible for the credit cheaper for American consumers than those made in Europe," the Tax Foundation report states. "This unfair competition is particularly damaging to European auto producers as the United States is the top destination for EU-built vehicles, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association."
Due to changing regulations and countries adopting strict standards on emissions and for EVs, the TTC plans to focus on developing standards for charging systems for heavy-duty vehicles (to be adopted by 2024), the EU reported. The EU and the United States also shared an interest in developing recommendations for public charging infrastructures by 2023.
The U.S. remains the EU’s number one trading partner, according to EU trade data. With The EU and the United States cooperative economic relationship, globally, 9.4 million people and 16 million jobs are said to be either directly or indirectly linked due to the trade agreement between the UE and U.S.
Competition and cooperation can be two sides of the same coin for friends like the United States and EU, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a Dec. 4 tweet.
"We’re working together on strengthening our clean energy industrial bases, from standards to raw materials," von de Leyen wrote. "In the global context we have a common interest in preserving our industrial leadership."
