New Avenues of Collaboration Embrace Shared Vision of Expanded Partnership, and Contribute to a Rules-Based Global Economy
Read the U.S.-EU Joint Statement here.
The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) held its fourth ministerial meeting in Luleå, Sweden on May 30-31, 2023. U.S. Co-Chairs Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai were joined by EU Co-Chairs European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis to review progress, meet with a range of U.S. and EU stakeholders, and further enhance Transatlantic cooperation on trade and technology that delivers for workers and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Our nearly 800 million citizens share common values and principles that directly support the largest economic relationship in the world. The changing international environment requires joint collaboration to meet the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century, and the TTC is a key mechanism to deliver economic growth and prosperity for our citizens. The deep and binding ties between the United States and the European Union have been further strengthened through our unprecedented cooperation in response to Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, as seen in our deep alignment on sanctions and export controls. We have enhanced collaboration to address non-market policies, practices, and economic coercion, while emphasizing our enduring commitment to democratic governance, respect for human rights, and the rule of law.
TTC working groups are broadening and deepening U.S.-EU cooperation in both trade and technology through their work on key areas of our $7 trillion economic relationship, including cooperation on technology standards, sustainable trade, support for innovation, export controls, efforts to counter the misuse of technology that undermines the functioning of democracies and human rights, and cooperation in third countries to support trusted partners in information and communications technology services provision. Across the board, the TTC working groups are collaborating to address a range of shared challenges in the global economy, including on non-market policies and practices and coercive economic actions that run counter to our free market economic systems and hinder economic growth, including for our small- and medium-sized enterprises.
To inform dialogue and information exchange in the TTC working groups, these mechanisms have incorporated critical input from a broad spectrum of U.S. and EU stakeholders, including industry, labor unions and organizations, academia and think tanks, non-profit organizations, environmental groups, and other members of civil society. Continued, robust stakeholder input will be essential to the TTC’s further work.
During their fourth ministerial meeting, the U.S. and EU TTC co-chairs reviewed progress and announced key initiatives including:
- Identification of key tools and technologies critical to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, further collaboration to counter evasion of our unprecedented sanctions and export controls, and intensification of efforts to tighten enforcement against potential violators;
- Collaboration to maximize clean energy development, accelerate the transition to a net zero emission economy no later than 2050, increase the security of supply chains for clean energy technology, and sustain and create well-paying jobs for workers in the Transatlantic economy through the U.S.-EU Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue;
- Commitment to continue to coordinate, share lessons, and seek to align our approaches to address risks associated with outbound investment in sensitive technologies, working in coordination with our G7 allies;
- Enhancement of our coordination to counter economic coercion and bolster Transatlantic preparedness and resilience in support of our stakeholders, while sharing deep concern, underscored by the Transatlantic business community, about actions against independent business diligence and advisory firms that are essential for investor confidence and the integrity of commercial transactions;
- Development of information exchange on non-market policies and practices that affect digital trade, including discussion of U.S. and EU policies to stem the risks from non-market digital actors;
- Exchange of information and market intelligence to address the impact of non-market economic policies affecting the global semiconductor supply chain, with a focus on legacy chips;
- Operationalization of a joint early warning mechanism for disruptions in semiconductor supply chains;
- Advancement of our joint AI Roadmap through launching three expert groups to focus on AI terminology and taxonomy, standards and tools for trustworthy AI and risk management, and monitoring and measuring AI risks. The AI Roadmap will also include a special emphasis on the opportunities and risks of generative AI, and will complement the G7 Hiroshima process;
- Establishment of an internal catalogue between the European Commission and the U.S. Government’s scientific agencies of relevant research results and resources on five areas which represent shared significance and benefit: extreme weather and climate forecasting, emergency response management, health and medicine improvements, energy grid optimization, and agriculture optimization;
- Advancement of our work on shared standards in critical and emerging technologies, including an additive manufacturing approach that bears the logos of three international standards organizations to enable innovative new designs for manufacturing;
- Progress in the Joint Task Force on Quantum, including exploring reciprocity for participation in U.S. and EU public research and development programs and activities in Post-Quantum Cryptography;
- Issuance of joint technical recommendations for government-funded implementation of e-vehicle charging infrastructure and development of a shared vision on a standard for charging electric heavy-duty vehicles;
- Acceleration of development of a common vision and industry roadmap on 6G wireless communication, with a focus on research and development. This includes publication of a 6G outlook that covers guiding principles, our common Transatlantic vision on 6G, and next steps;
- Advancement of a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the European Investment Bank to scale up support for the rollout of secure and resilient digital connectivity in Costa Rica and implementation of a 5G stand-alone network and cybersecurity resilience in the Philippines;
- Deepened collaboration with labor, business, and government through our Trade and Labor Dialogue to eradicate forced labor from global supply chains and determine the impact of the green transition on workers, including joint technical recommendations by labor and business organizations on transatlantic cooperation to eradicate forced labor;
- Fostering the talent and skills of U.S. and EU working-age populations through the Talent for Growth Task Force, which gathers government and private sector leaders from business, labor, and organizations that provide training and skills development to develop best practices for innovative skills policies;
- Development of a structured threat information exchange on foreign information, manipulation, and interference, and shared high-level principles to promote online environments that protect, empower, and respect our children and youth and that enable appropriate and safe access to platform data for independent researchers;
- Expansion of the U.S.-EU Mutual Recognition Agreement on Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices to include veterinary medicines.
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