Trade and technology issues Disillusionment even before the first meeting: USA and EU meet in Pittsburgh
Can the EU trust the US again? Before a top-level discussion on trade and technology issues, unpleasant questions arise for Europeans, while Americans strive to maintain a good mood.
Overshadowed by a serious breach of trust by the US government, the new European-American trade and technology council will meet for the first time this Wednesday. The meeting in the US city of Pittsburgh is intended to give the go-ahead for much closer transatlantic coordination on important trade, economic and technology issues in the future. Whether this goal can be achieved, however, is uncertain after the events of the past weeks.
The reason is European annoyance that Washington has recently signed a new security pact for the Indo-Pacific region with the UK and Australia behind the back of the EU agreed . The government in Paris in particular was furious because the alliance called Aukus also signed a EUR 56 billion submarine contract between Australia and France burst. In view of the anger, especially France had questioned whether the meeting in Pittsburgh should even take place as planned .
“We were disappointed with the way we were dealing with the Aukus situation,” stated EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis in a speech in Washington at the beginning of the week. There is now some repair work to be done.
The failed submarine deal between France and Australia hits Thyssenkrupp subsidiary Atlas Elektronik. But the German sonar equipment supplier has a plan B.
This is especially true for the relationship between Paris and Washington. The French government, out of anger about the US procedure, demanded changes to the planned declaration by the EU and the USA right up to the end to the Trade and Industry Council. On Tuesday evening it was still unclear whether a text could be published at all.
Specifically, the government in Paris was, according to information from EU circles, among other things therefore, a positively worded sentence on mutual dependencies in the production of semiconductors should be deleted from the declaration. From the French point of view, this could make it clear that, after the recent breach of trust, the EU is striving for significantly greater independence from its partner on the other side of the Atlantic.
The current supply bottlenecks for semiconductors are one of the main topics of the Trade and Technology Council, along with cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence. According to a draft for a joint declaration, the delivery bottlenecks are to be eliminated through closer cooperation, among other things, reports the German Press Agency. Specifically, it is also about reducing the current dependency on products from Asia and especially from China. The shortage of semiconductors has recently resulted in numerous car manufacturers not being able to produce as desired.
The Trade and Technology Council was founded in June at an EU-US summit by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden. For example, closer cooperation on technology standards is planned.
German business representatives therefore appealed to those involved to make the talks a success. “The reduction of trade disputes, the prevention of new conflicts and a positive transatlantic trade agenda are of great importance for German companies,” warned the President of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Peter Adrian. The Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering said that the Trade and Technology Council represented a “historic opportunity” to finally tackle important issues in transatlantic economic relations together again. This also includes the abolition of the US steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump and the restoration of a functioning dispute settlement mechanism at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai will attend the first meeting of the Council for the United States. The EU Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and her colleague Dombrovskis have traveled to the USA for the EU. Both recently promoted the talks intensively with the 27 EU member states. Strategic alliances are about developing joint approaches and also overcoming difficulties, they explained after the decision to reject the French request to postpone the meeting.
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And shortly before the meeting, the US government also tried to get positive tones. The State Department in Washington recalled on Tuesday evening (local time) the dimensions of trade and investment between the US and the EU. They are “indispensable partners in overcoming global challenges”.
More about the Topic: Joe Biden will end his predecessor’s protectionism, it said. But nothing will come of it. The new US president is pushing the isolation of America further. That puts jobs and prosperity at risk – in America and the rest of the world.
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