The meeting was co-chaired by Director General for Trade, Sabine Weyand, and Director General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, Roberto Viola, on the EU side, and by Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Jose Fernandez, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Marisa Lago, and Senior Advisor to U.S. Trade Representative, Cara Morrow, on the U.S. side.
The two sides took stock of the progress on joint work under way in various TTC working groups. The discussions highlighted the importance of the continued collaboration around artificial intelligence, as well as the significance of the ongoing efforts to promote the deployment of secure digital infrastructure and of next generation networks. They also encouraged the efforts to continue to make progress on emerging technology standards, including on digital identity.
The officials also discussed how to advance the ongoing cooperation on secure supply chains, notably for solar and semiconductors. The EU and U.S. reiterated the importance of easing and promoting more sustainable and secure trade and investment flows across the Atlantic. This includes the joint identification of possible cooperation strands to be developed under the Transatlantic Initiative on Sustainable Trade (TIST) based on the inputs from the transatlantic stakeholder community and the Trade and Labour Dialogue. The two sides also agreed to continue exchanges of best practices on investment screening.
The meeting concluded by underlining the importance of maintaining strong transatlantic cooperation on trade and technology and of further strengthening overall EU-US ties. They agreed on the importance of getting views from stakeholders on lessons learnt and on the future of the EU-US trade and technology cooperation.
More information:
Digital issues at the EU-US Trade and Technology Council
Source – EU Commission
U.S. Advances Goals of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council with Deputy Counterparts
On September 16, the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) convened virtually at the Deputy level. Under Secretary of State Jose Fernandez, Under Secretary of Commerce Marisa Lago, and U.S. Trade Representative Senior Advisor Cara Morrow were joined by EU TTC Deputies European Commission Directors-General Sabine Weyand and Roberto Viola.
The Deputies highlighted and encouraged progress on TTC workstreams. Deputies welcomed work on the Joint Roadmap for Trustworthy AI; collaboration on technology issues; ongoing work on disinformation and protecting human rights defenders online; coordination and collaboration on secure digital infrastructure, including 5G and subsea cables; information exchanges on investment screening best practices; and results and next steps from digital identity mapping. Deputies also highlighted continued exchanges on non-market policies and practices (NMPP) in the medical device sector, including new coordinated data monitoring, and highlighted exchanges on NMPPs in renewable sectors (e.g., wind, solar) and information-sharing on recent trade tools to counter these NMPPs. Deputies further discussed strengthening semiconductor and solar supply chains, and ways to enhance bilateral trade and investment.
Deputies previewed the September 25 virtual meeting with Trade and Labor Dialogue (TALD) stakeholders to follow up on the (TALD) Social Partner Joint Statement on Transatlantic Forced Labor Trade Strategy and on the January 2024 Workshop recommendations on the promotion of good quality jobs for a successful, just, and inclusive green economy. They also acknowledged ongoing work between USTR and DG Trade in determining areas of collaboration based on stakeholder recommendations from the 2024 Transatlantic Initiative on Sustainable Trade (TIST) workshop.
U.S. and EU Deputies reinforced the importance of transatlantic cooperation and encouraged continued collaboration. The U.S. and EU Deputies reiterated their intention to use the remainder of 2024 to engage with U.S. and EU stakeholders to learn their views on the future of the TTC.
To learn more about the TTC, visit: https://www.state.gov/u-s-eu-trade-and-technology-council-ttc/.
Source – U.S. State Department