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Last month, the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) met in Paris-Saclay for the second time since its launch in June 2021. (The first ministerial took place in Pittsburgh in September. France hosted this session as holder of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.) The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Raimondo, and U.S. Trade Representative Tai, and European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Vestager and Dombrovskis. European Commissioner Breton also joined the discussions and the French ministers for foreign affairs, economy, and trade (Le Drian, Le Maire, and Riester) hosted the opening dinner.

The TTC is a new model of economic integration through regulatory coordination. Although both sides reserve their “regulatory autonomy,” they have also invested significant political capital, time, and effort into this process. The TTC spans broad policy areas including tech standards, climate, supply chains, export controls, and investment screening. It operates through ten working groups, which meet at staff working levels and seek input from outside stakeholders. For instance, the European Commission sponsors a “Trade and Technology Dialogue” facility to conduct outreach to the private sector and civil society. Through this technical work, the TTC’s aim is to shape the “rules of the road” for the global economy to favor liberal democracies, leveraging the transatlantic community’s half of global GDP. The ministerials set the themes and political direction for the working groups.

Against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, the U.S. and EU noted that the TTC has become a “central pillar” of the transatlantic partnership, “indispensable” in facilitating coordination on sanctions and export controls. It will serve as a forum to monitor and discuss the Russia sanctions and may coordinate their eventual removal. Indeed, the TTC has arguably become more of a geopolitical tool than originally intended. Its 48-page joint statement reflects the breadth and depth of the underlying discussions and signals various future policy directions.…

Continue Reading U.S.-EU Trade and Tech Council: Paris Takeaways and Next Steps

Last month, the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) held its inaugural ministerial in Pittsburgh: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Trade Representative Katherine Tai met with European Commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis. Only three months after the TTC process was launched at the US-EU summit, the two sides…

America’s political leaders overcame political differences to enact $2 trillion in national economic support bill, while the Federal Reserve took historic steps to assure liquidity for the economy to address COVID-19. Important steps for sure, but a bigger challenge lies around the corner. This is a global pandemic causing global economic crisis; the United States…

President Trump tweeted out on Sunday what sounds like good news:  based upon “substantial progress“ in trade negotiations with China, he was postponing a March 2 increase from ten to twenty-five percent tariffs on some $200 billion in U.S. imports from China.  The President even declared expectations of further progress and a “signing summit” at…

We are moving into uncharted waters with the Trump Administration’s announcement that the U.S. will move forward to impose $50 billion in tariffs against a wide range of Chinese products, with the first tranche of $34 billion beginning on July 6; as well as tariffs against Canadian, Mexican, European and Japanese steel and aluminum imports. …

The arms race was a defining element of the Cold War between the U.S. and its allies, and the Soviet Union.  President Trump’s recent proposal for $60 billion in unilateral actions against China presages a pitched 21st century battle over technological supremacy, with fateful consequences for the world order.

The Trump Administration rightly sees …

While it is far away and little known, we should all be paying more attention to Indonesia, even beyond its important elections this week.  It is the world’s fourth most populous country (home to one-fifth of the world’s Muslim’s) and the third largest democracy.  By some accounts, Indonesia’s economy is already in the world’s top…

For companies concerned about further Russia sanctions, May 25 is critical.  That is the date of elections in Ukraine.  If those elections do not take place or if they are disrupted in the eastern part of the country, it is likely the United States would impose much stronger sanctions.

 To date, sanctions have had a…