European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis estimated on Tuesday that an agreement between the EU and the United States on steel and aluminum, as well as on the supply of essential minerals, could be announced on Friday during a summit in Washington. “We consider that a global agreement on steel and aluminum, as well as an agreement on essential minerals, could be among the outcomes of the summit,” he told a meeting of European finance ministers in Luxembourg.
Valdis Dombrovskis must participate in this summit which will bring together in particular the American president Joe Biden, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. They must discuss the conflict over imports of steel and aluminum from Europe, subject to customs duties imposed in 2018 by the Trump presidency, finally suspended in 2021 but which could be reactivated if an agreement is not reached before the end of October. “We want to make the Trump-era 232 tariffs a thing of the past and seek new avenues for cooperation,” said Valdis Dombrovskis on X (formerly Twitter).
Another agreement on essential minerals
Joe Biden and Ursula von der Leyen pledged in October 2021 to negotiate a major steel deal that takes into account climate change and aims to combat low-cost Chinese competition. The EU also hopes for an agreement on the essential minerals needed for the energy transition. The aim is to eliminate the discriminatory elements present in the great US climate plan (IRA) voted on in the summer of 2022. Under the IRA, companies must, in particular, present evidence that a certain percentage of minerals comes from the United States or of its free trade partners. in electric car batteries to benefit from subsidies.
An agreement on essential minerals would allow EU companies to benefit from a status equivalent to their competitors from countries that have a free trade agreement with the United States. Japan and the United States signed an agreement of this type on “supply chains of essential minerals and batteries for electric vehicles” at the end of March, which allowed Japanese vehicles to qualify for the $7,500 subsidy granted for the purchase of a new one. electric vehicle. one of the emblematic measures of the IRA.
Source: BFM TV
