US, EU meet to forge trade and tech alliance to reduce dependence on China
- Trade and Technology Council is an effort to counter China’s often disruptive global footprint through multinational partnership, a goal of President Joe Biden
- The talks are being held over two days in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Late on Wednesday in a former steel factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the European Union and United States unveiled an alliance to sharpen their modern arsenals for tackling China on trade and technology.
The agreement, however, was reached only after some last-minute haggling and a diplomatic stand-off involving France and the US.
The United States-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC), first announced in June, aims to reduce its members’ shared reliance on China’s manufacturing juggernaut while strengthening their respective domestic supply chains involving strategic technologies.
While China is not mentioned in the 17-page joint statement – EU officials insist the council is not aimed at any single country – it is a clear focus of the new grouping.
References to “shared democratic values”, “non-market economies that are undermining the world trading system” and “misuse” of artificial intelligence technologies that threaten “fundamental freedoms” aimed at Beijing and other authoritarian regimes fill the document.
Co-chairing the two-day meeting are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and European Commission Executive Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis.
