They haven’t yet agreed a trade deal on critical battery minerals, but will collaborate more closely on AI, future mobile network tech and silicon
The fifth EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was held in Washington DC this week. The TTC was initiated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the US President Joe Biden in June 2021.
Chairing duties were shared by big names including: the European Commission’s (EC) EVPs Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis; US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and US trade representative Katherine Tai.
The EC’s Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton also attended.
Progress report
A statement from the White House read: “The U.S. co-chairs…noted progress made through the TTC Joint Roadmap on Trustworthy AI and Risk Management and resolved to continue to promote interoperability in our emerging approaches to AI governance.
“They also noted the quickening pace of technological innovation and the essential role the TTC plays in developing responsible rules of the road for critical and emerging technologies, including creating compatible and interoperable standards that reinforce the work of international standards development organizations.”
Reuters reported that the two sides did not reach agreement on a trade deal for critical battery minerals but are to continue talks to create a transatlantic marketplace for minerals and other components. EVP Dombrovskis told reporters outstanding issues remain, including aspects of the US’ Inflation Reduction Act. This is a law covering green energy subsidies and the EU sees it as discriminatory.
“The EU and the US welcomed the International Guiding Principles on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the voluntary Code of Conduct for AI developers adopted in the G7 and agreed to continue cooperating on international AI governance. Both parties also welcomed the industry roadmap on 6G,” an EC statement said.
The 6G roadmap was published last December and outlines “guiding principles and next steps to develop this critical technology”.
Security matters
Participants at the TTC also examined progress on collaborative efforts to secure connectivity around the world, particularly for 5G networks and undersea links.
The EC also said in the statement. “The EU and the US are also intensifying their coordination on the availability of critical raw materials, crucial for semiconductor production, having activated the joint TTC early warning mechanism for semiconductor supply chain disruptions, following China’s announced controls on gallium and germanium.
“They continued to exchange information on public support for the investments taking place under the respective EU and US Chips Acts. A roundtable on the semiconductor supply chain took place in the margins of the TTC, focusing on developments and potential cooperation in the legacy semiconductor supply chains. Finally, the EU and the US discussed a report mapping EU and US approaches to digital identity, currently open for comments.”
Not-so side shows
The United States and EU also hosted two stakeholder events on the margins of the TTC: a Roundtable on the Legacy Semiconductor Supply Chain. US and EU industry leaders discussed the state of the industry, such as how companies can improve supply chain resilience and transparenc, and how governments can help address non-market policies and practices that lead to excessive dependency on any one producing country for legacy semiconductors.
The Transatlantic Initiative for Sustainable Trade (TIST) Stakeholder Event was on Crafting the Transatlantic Green Marketplace. Participants discussed how to strengthen the transatlantic marketplace as a key factor in the development of sustainable and net-zero economies on both sides of the Atlantic.
See you soon in Brussels
The White House statement announced, “The co-chairs intend to convene the sixth TTC ministerial meeting in Belgium in the spring of 2024 to review progress to inform priorities, identify new areas for collaboration, and further deepen the transatlantic partnership on shared priorities.”