The US administration and a European Commission delegation are meeting near Washington on Monday to try to bring the world’s two largest economies closer on trade and new technologies, but little concrete progress is expected.
This third meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC), at the University of Maryland, near Washington, should “launch new concrete initiatives” to strengthen “our cooperation,” according to US officials. The TTC was launched by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in June 2021.
The consequences of the IRA at the center of the discussions
The discussions bring together Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Trade Minister Gina Raimondo and Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai from the US side, and from the European side, Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis, in charge of trade, and Margrethe Vestager, for the competition.
The consequences of the great American plan for climate and employment (IRA) must be part of the discussion topics, he assured on the European side. In fact, this is causing concern both in Brussels and in European capitals. French President Emmanuel Macron discussed it with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, last week during his state visit to Washington. The French delegation was pleased to have been heard by the US administration.
Little progress expected on Monday
Little concrete progress is expected from Monday’s discussions, however. The US margin for maneuver is reduced over the IRA, between the loss of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives at the beginning of January, a consequence of the mid-term elections, and the highly symbolic nature of the plan for Joe Biden.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton, in charge of the internal market, has also chosen not to accompany his colleagues to the United States due to the lack of expected progress. “The TTC’s agenda does not leave enough space to respond to the concerns of many European ministers and industrialists, so the commissioner has decided not to attend,” he explained in his Brussels office on Friday.
Discussions will also address in particular the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine on the world economy, as well as Chinese economic policies and the challenges they pose to both the United States and Europe.
Source: BFM TV
