COLLEGE PARK, Md.—Top U.S. and European Union officials agreed to work closely to strengthen semiconductor supply chains, including sharing information about their respective programs to provide massive subsidies to promote domestic chip production.
At a Monday gathering to discuss trade and technology issues, however, the two sides failed to make progress on a dispute over the U.S.’s new electric-vehicle program that has strained bilateral ties, an issue that was raised by French President
Emmanuel Macron
during his meeting with President Biden last week.
European officials said they would continue to press Washington to address their concerns in the guideline the U.S. is set to roll out by Jan. 1 on how to implement the EV legislation.
The EU and the U.S.’s key Asian allies say the new EV subsidies, introduced under the Inflation Reduction Act, discriminate against their companies with its North American assembly and contents requirements.
The officials met outside of Washington for a ministerial meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, a forum established last year to boost cooperation in key areas such as advanced technology, supply chains and climate policies. The Council is part of the Biden administration’s effort to strengthen ties with allies and friendly partners to counter China’s influence.
Secretary of State
Antony Blinken,
Secretary of Commerce
Gina Raimondo
and U.S. Trade Representative
Katherine Tai
represented Washington. European Commission Executive Vice Presidents
Margrethe Vestager
and
Valdis Dombrovskis
led the EU side.
Even as the EV dispute cast a shadow over the meeting, the two sides stressed concrete achievements made through the TTC framework, including the agreement on semiconductor supply chains, an area where both sides are accelerating efforts to beef up their…
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