The sixth meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) opened in Leuven on Thursday 4 April. The meeting will end on Friday 5 April with the launch of the partnership for the security of supply of minerals, comprising around 10 countries (see EUROPE 13383/5). European Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis, Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton are welcoming US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
At an event with stakeholders on Thursday 4 April, these participants reiterated the benefits that the TTC has brought to the transatlantic relationship. Regular dialogue is crucial given the previous tensions under the Trump administration, the European Commissioners underlined. The TTC “is a key element of a renewed and broad transatlantic economic, political and security partnership”, according to Mr Dombrovskis. He pointed out that the TTC’s successes were often due to “ideas contributed by the EU”.
A more ambitious TTC is expected
However, there are many calls to take this framework further. “To ensure the continuation of this unique partnership, strong and shared ambition will be essential”, said the Belgian minister of foreign affairs, Hadja Lahbib, at the event.
The TTC should focus on resolving concrete problems in trade relations for many players. European business representative BusinessEurope and the US Chamber of Commerce “call on the European Union and the United States to redouble efforts to achieve concrete outcomes that will facilitate doing business across the Atlantic, and tangible progress in areas like conformity assessments, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical infrastructure”.
So far, the TTC has provided political and technical dialogue and cooperation commitments in many technology-related areas, but market access and dispute resolution have been swept under the carpet.
“We are wasting too much time”, says one European official. In his view, the global geopolitical context and unfair competition from China should push the EU and the United States to move forward more quickly. On unfair practices and the response to them, “we should absolutely combine our toolboxes”, according to this source. What’s more, “it shouldn’t just be a matter of copying each other’s approach to the issue”.
The United States, for example, has imposed a 25% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, while the EU is currently undertaking an investigation to potentially impose its own tariff on these products from China, which are suspected of distorting competition in the EU (see EUROPE 13264/21).
Transatlantic AI consortium
In the margins of the TTC, Magrethe Vestager and Gina Raimondo took part in the launch of the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium between European and American companies. It is led by Cisco and includes a number of IT giants: Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft and SAP.
The aim is to analyse the impact of AI on jobs, and to identify the training opportunities needed for the positions that will be affected by AI. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)