The European Union’s Trade Commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, has called for the United States and the EU to produce tangible results from their upcoming forum on trade and technology, scheduled to take place next month. Dombrovskis emphasized the importance of forging closer ties on green products and technology during his speech at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. The fourth ministerial-level meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) is set to take place in Sweden on May 30-31, with Dombrovskis, EU tech chief Margrethe Vestager, and U.S. counterparts Katherine Tai, Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in attendance.
Dombrovskis stated that the TTC had already played a significant role in coordinating sanctions against Russia and on some technology and security issues. He expressed the need for clear trade deliverables and urged both sides to find common approaches to trade facilitation and conformity assessment, which is the process used to clear products for sale. Dombrovskis also called for progress in digital and sustainable trade, common standards for green goods and technologies, fair competition, and resilient supply chains.
European Union leaders have expressed concerns about the local content rules tied to many of the subsidies under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), fearing that they may lead manufacturers to relocate from Europe to the United States. In response, Dombrovskis urged the two sides to work together to align the domestic supports of the IRA and the EU Green Deal, which he believes will “turbo-charge” the green transition.
Looking to the future, Dombrovskis suggested that the TTC should be even bolder in its ambitions, proposing that the two sides aim for a green transatlantic marketplace.
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