“From the EU side, we are willing to move forward as fast as possible”, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Thursday 13 April, referring to discussions on an EU-US raw materials agreement (see EUROPE 13139/3).
“We see that the US has reached an agreement with Japan, so it shows that it is possible to make progress, and we are willing to dedicate our efforts and energy to reach an agreement swiftly”. The EU Commissioner was in Washington, where he discussed the issue with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
The US and Japan reached an agreement of this kind on 28 March.
Agreement on steel and aluminium
Valdis Dombrovskis and Katherine Tai also discussed the negotiations for a comprehensive agreement on sustainable steel and aluminium, to be reached by the end of October 2023. These still seem to be at a standstill, despite the numerous exchanges between the two teams, both at technical and political level. “I made a commitment that we would see each other every month, and we are keeping that promise. We have already seen each other four times since January”, insisted Ms Tai. She said that “significant progress” had been made in the work.
EU-US Trade and Technology Council
The two participants also discussed the preparation of the fourth EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting on 30-31 May. Mr Dombrovskis listed his expectations: to make progress on conformity assessment, on facilitation of trade via digital tools, and on the Transatlantic Initiative for Sustainable Trade.
Finally, during his visit to Washington, Mr Dombrovskis also noted the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
The MoU aims to “strengthen cooperation to identify and support new investments around the world”. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)