In Pittsburgh, the EU and the US inaugurated the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) and outlined the exact work ahead.
A few hours before the meeting, on Wednesday 29 September, the EU Member States finally agreed on a joint declaration, which EUROPE had access to (the document is not yet public at the time of this writing).
The meeting in Pittsburgh of European Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis (Trade) and Margrethe Vestager (Europe for the Digital Age and Competition) with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has enabled them to agree on ways to work together in the months to come.
Investment screening. While recognising the need for investment screening, both partners agree that screening regimes must be accompanied by enforcement mechanisms. They commit to talking regularly about this through the TTC and at other levels to identify investment trends or share good practices on screening.
Export control. In order to maximise coordination of approaches to controlling the export of dual-use items, the EU and the US are planning technical consultations on developing legislation or on enforcement procedures. They also want to work together on assistance to third countries in this area.
Artificial Intelligence. Both partners recognise the potential dangers of artificial intelligence and underline their concerns about social rating systems experimented with by authoritarian regimes. They want to work together to identify and promote trusted technologies that serve society, not the other way around.
Semiconductors. Through their declaration, the EU and the US commit to creating a partnership for the rebalancing of global supply chains in semiconductors. They insist that the partnership should be in the mutual interest of both parties.
To this end, the relevant working group will focus on short-term supply issues as a first step. This involves identifying gaps and vulnerabilities on both sides of the Atlantic and strengthening the respective supply chains.
Both agree that a subsidy race should be avoided and that strategic dependencies in the supply chain should be reduced.
It was also clarified that work to address the medium and long term issues is only planned for the second TTC meeting.
Trade challenges around the world. Considering themselves to be two democratic market economies, the transatlantic partners commit to exchanging information on unfair practices in world trade. They want to develop response strategies and encourage the development of domestic tools.
They want to do the same with regard to the protection of workers in the trade context.
On climate issues, the statement is more evasive. The EU and the US say they want to consult on the inclusion of trade-related climate and environmental issues on the agenda of the Global Trade Challenges Working Group.
Timetable. In the declaration, the EU and the US state their “intention of achieving concrete outcomes on these issues by the time of our next meeting”. No date is given for this next meeting.
The inauguration on 29 September in Pittsburgh is continued on 30 September with the interlocutors in a more informal way.
See the statement : https://bit.ly/3ok8apD (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)