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Trade and Technology Council
The TTC's fourth ministerial meeting on 30-31 May, 2023
Despite a difficult geopolitical environment, the transatlantic partnership demonstrates unwavering resilience and strength. The EU and the US should continue to cooperate on global challenges, reduce strategic dependencies and project their common values. The Trade and Technology Council (TTC) is a unique platform for the transatlantic partners to shape the direction of the global economy around their shared values, strengthen relationships between officials and build common understandings. The TTC has already started to deliver through promising initiatives in artificial intelligence, connectivity projects in third countries, and a joint transatlantic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is critical that the ministerial meeting on Tuesday, 30 May and Wednesday, 30 May, leads to progress on important issues for transatlantic cooperation. More details on an expected agreement on critical raw materials, further transparency in semiconductor supply chains and advances to the ongoing cooperation on artificial intelligence, will all be important deliverables.
You can read more about our priorities to the fourth ministerial here.
Our priorities
- Digitalisation:
- Use the TTC to define global standards on emerging technology, particularly for Artificial Intelligence (AI). They should do so by building on past initiatives, encouraging stakeholder involvement and ensuring that regulatory bodies are equipped to regulate AI.
- Strengthen cooperation in the semiconductor supply chain and align on tools such as standards, certifications, priority orders and export controls, in order to improve resilience, ensure fair investment and boost research, development and manufacturing.
- Align their approaches to digital tools by digitalising trade and customs clearance, building non-discriminatory frameworks and using digital exporting technologies.
- Sustainability:
- Accelerate the development and deployment of clean technologies by avoiding discriminatory policies, building on previous achievements and cooperating on funding and standards.
- Increase responsible investments in critical raw materials by eliminating export duties on minerals used in battery productions, implementing international labour standards and developing joint extraction and processing ventures in strategic third countries.
- Promote policies that support a transition to more sustainable trade by coordinating on their carbon reduction initiatives, developing common definitions and aligning on green procurement.
- Harmonise their due diligence approaches and work to eradicate the use of forced labour in supply chains by establishing a multi-stakeholder task force and applying the lessons learned from previously successful initiatives.
- Trade:
- Continue to align the export controls of emerging technologies by avoiding duplication of export licensing, harmonising intangible software and technology transfers, facilitating cooperation with industry and clarifying definitions.
- Maintain an open approach to trade, defend the multilateral rules-based trading system and modernise the World Trade Organization.
- Develop a joint strategic approach to non-market economies by sharing best practices, involving the private sector, creating a coordination mechanism and applying an internationally accepted concept of ‘competitive neutrality’.
Read more on our priorities for the fourth ministerial meeting.
Process also matters. AmCham EU calls for transatlantic leaders to:
- Foster transparency and stakeholder engagement: building a consistent system to collect input and engage with business and civil society will ensure the eectiveness of the TTC. Ensuring buy-in from all segments of society will be a key component of the success. Transparency efforts should also include more detailed reporting of the ongoing discussions.
- Outline roadmaps and clear deliverables: providing more clarity on the scope of the working groups’ activities is critical to enable stakeholders to provide constructive input and for the TTC to deliver concrete outcomes in a timely manner.
- Prioritise outcomes with concrete impact: while both short-term and long-term areas of work are important, delivering on a few concrete outcomes first will help demonstrate the relevance of the TTC for citizens and businesses of all sizes.
Our priorities from the second ministerial meeting on 15-16 May, 2022
The Trade and Technology Council (TTC) is a unique forum for the EU and the US to tackle new and emerging issues arising from the transformation of our economies. Working together, transatlantic partners can ensure that global standards and governance reflect their shared values, including the defence of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Read more about our specific recommendations here.
Our priorities from the first ministerial meeting on 29 September, 2021
The Trade and Technology Council must serve as a sustainable mechanism for the EU and the US to engage with each other and build trust. With the establishment of the TTC, there is a forum in place to proactively address specific issues as soon as they arise. It can also be a platform for both sides to be more forward-looking and shape global standards according to their common values. Read our priorities for each of the working groups:
The big picture
The transatlantic economy matters
The transatlantic economy is the largest, most prosperous and most innovative commercial artery in the world – and it continues to grow.
The EU and the US have a key role to play as champions of multilateralism, upholding shared values such as democracy and the defence of human rights across the Atlantic. Transatlantic leadership is critical to finding common solutions to global challenges.
Outstanding issues to address
Now is certainly not the time for new trade tensions. The EU and the US have announced the creation of a new Task Force on the Inflation Reduction Act. This initiative should help create a better understanding and foster dialogue. Reducing trade barriers, strengthening the resilience of supply chains, supporting the multilateral trading system as well as cooperating in standard-setting bodies should be core priorities for the EU-US agenda, including the work of the TTC.