European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis is in Washington from 12 October to 14 October, during which time he has been able to speak with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. He took advantage of the opportunity to raise the issue of the US tax credit for electric cars included in the country’s new inflation-reduction law.
This law offers incentives for locally produced electric vehicles (see EUROPE 13012/16) and, therefore, may lead to discrimination against European producers. “There is a willingness to engage on the U.S. side on this”, stated Mr Dombrovskis. “We hope we can resolve these issues before they become disputes”.
The practical application of this US law is still being prepared. One possibility could be to give preference to partners.
The two representatives also spoke of the next meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, which could take place in December on the other side of the Atlantic. The European Commission and the United States are expected to negotiate a joint statement for the conclusion of the meeting in the near future.
Finally, Katherine Tai and Valdis Dombrovskis confirmed that their teams are working on the comprehensive agreement on steel and aluminium, with the October 2023 deadline in mind. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)