WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States and the European Union agreed on Wednesday to set up 10 panels to examine and recommend solutions to a wide variety of trade disputes and challenges.
During two-day trade and technology talks in Pittsburgh, they set up 10 working groups to cover topics ranging from climate and cleantech and technology standards to global trade issues, including tariffs that have strained US-EU relations and predatory trade practices China.
Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai led the US delegation, accompanied by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to the opening session of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council. The meeting took place in an atmosphere tarnished by recent anger from the EU over its exclusion from a new US-UK-Australian security initiative for the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s increasing assertiveness in the region.
In a joint statement released after Wednesday’s talks, both sides agreed on the need to maintain investment audits and export controls, reaffirmed their intention to develop artificial intelligence systems that are “innovative and trustworthy” and “support universal human rights and common respect democratic values. “And is committed to working together to realign semiconductor supply chains.
They also agreed that the Export Control Working Group will meet again on October 27th.
Both sides had hoped to move forward on several disputes, including US tariffs on EU steel and aluminum imports and a unified stance against predatory Chinese trade policies. However, the 17-page joint statement did not mention either of the two subjects and did not include any named references to China.
Government officials had said the Pittsburgh talks would mark the beginning of a new transatlantic process that would focus on semiconductors, supply chains, vaccines and climate change, along with studies on artificial intelligence and high-tech telecommunications, especially advanced 6G networks.
In part, the White House saw the gathering as an opportunity to renew its efforts to better coordinate what the government sees as coercive measures and unfair trade practices in Beijing.
The government was expected to underscore the need for the United States and Europe to continue working to build resilience against China and other countries engaging in unfair economic practices, according to a person familiar with US preparations. The person was not allowed to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
However, it was unclear how great the appetite of some European allies is to push Beijing harder. In brief public statements, neither the American side nor the delegation of the European Commission, headed by its two Executive Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis, made any mention of the matter.
Launched in June during Biden’s visit to Europe, the TTC initially attracted little attention but became a focal point for growing tensions between the US and France when the Paris government tried to postpone that meeting.
Those tensions exploded earlier this month when the US, UK and Australia announced their new Indo-Pacific security initiative known as AUKUS, which ostentatiously excluded France and the EU and most directly to the cancellation of a billion dollar Australian-French submarine led contract. France responded with anger at the announcement, calling it a “stab in the back” from alleged allies, and called back its ambassadors to the United States and Australia.
Among the French complaints picked up by EU leaders are that the European Union plays an active and important role in the Indo-Pacific and that any attempt to blunt Chinese influence there or elsewhere will not be successful without it.
At the Group of Seven Summit in Carbis Bay, England, in June, Biden successfully urged his counterparts to include specific language criticizing China’s use of forced labor and other human rights abuses in their joint communique.
Canada, Great Britain, France and Japan broadly supported the position of the Biden government, while Germany, Italy and the European Union hesitated in talks.
The Pittsburgh talks came as the Biden administration is about to complete its review of the Trump administration’s trade policy towards China.
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Associate press writers Aamer Madhani and Josh Boak in Washington and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this.
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