The sixth meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) ended on Friday 5 April, marking the end of a cycle. The future of this forum is uncertain, given that the EU and the United States have their respective elections this year. The participants, who have met six times since 2021, attempted to demonstrate the TTC’s relevance at a number of events on 4 and 5 April. Alongside the TTC, participants announced the launch of the “Minerals Security Partnership”, comprising some fifteen countries (see other news).
“The history of the TTC is this growing alignment on all the subjects you just heard alluded to. We found that again today and it also inspires us to continue this work because the more we are able to build convergence on our approaches, the more effective we will be in making sure that we're actually delivering results for the people we represent”, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the end of the TTC.
China
One example of alignment is the shared view of China’s unfair practices, according to the American participants. On this subject, however, the coordination of European and American responses has not yet been achieved. Each side has its own method of countering Chinese dumping, and Washington seems unlikely to change its own.
In their joint declaration, the TTC participants state only that they “continue to exchange views on the risks that non-market policies and practices, including non-market excess capacity, pose in certain sectors”.
The declaration explicitly mentions the case of China, which has “unfair practices and policies in the medical devices sector”. On this issue, the EU and the US say they are engaging with other countries that share the same concerns.
While the strengthening of economic security is seen as “a fundamental pillar of the transatlantic partnership”, no announcement has been made in this area either. On the screening of outbound investment, for example, the EU and the US want to continue to exchange information on security risks and their respective approaches.
Follow-up to the IRA
The TTC has the merit of opening up a channel for discussion on problematic issues, admit several European officials. The same people regret, however, that these 3 years of discussions have not brought solutions to the trade disputes between the EU and Washington.
As for the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is causing problems for Europe, the response is less clear-cut: the agreement on critical minerals between the two partners, which should give European companies access to certain IRA subsidies, has still not been concluded.
The TTC has only enabled the creation of a ‘clean energy incentives dialogue’. In this way, the EU and the United States are seeking to improve the transparency of their industry support programmes. The aim is to avoid a subsidy race and discrimination in transatlantic trade and investment. Greater transparency and knowledge of each other’s practices is already a step forward, according to a senior European official.
Artificial Intelligence
One of the TTC’s objectives was to align visions of safe artificial intelligence (AI). This has led to a roadmap on the evaluation and measurement of tools for trustworthy AI and on risk management. In addition, the TTC has provided, after consultation with various stakeholders, a list of common conditions and definitions for the use of AI.
As a next step, a dialogue has been established between the European AI Office and the American AI Safety Institute.
Finally, on Thursday 4 April, an ‘AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium’ was launched between companies on both sides of the Atlantic (see EUROPE 13384/6).
Platforms
The EU and the US have agreed on “common principles for combating gender-based violence on online platforms”. Action is urgently needed in this area, they say.
A progress report has also been published on the mechanism for researcher access to data on online platforms.
Finally, the TTC participants published a joint list of recommended actions for online platforms, in particular the protection of human rights defenders on these platforms. The document lists ten recommendations for preventing attacks on these people.
Online invoicing
The EU and the United States believe that online trading tools should be made easier. This is why the two parties have agreed to harmonise their technical standards for online billing systems, by means of a joint declaration on the subject. This should considerably reduce administrative procedures, as well as the use of paper, according to the authors of the declaration.
See the statement on online invoicing: https://aeur.eu/f/bna
See the joint statement by the sixth TTC: https://aeur.eu/f/bn9 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)