appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Mark Magnier

Finbarr Bermingham

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.
“We had a very productive day,” Blinken said.
Despite teething pains and divided interests separating the transatlantic partners, the TTC represents a promising platform to counter China’s rising and often disruptive global footprint through alliances, a cornerstone of US President Joe Biden’s policy, officials and analysts said.
EU backs Paris; India and France vow to ‘act jointly’ in Indo-Pacific amid Aukus row
“This is a real new moment,” said a senior EU official. “There are a lot of difficult issues and we have a forum.”
Anja Manuel, director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Security Forum, agreed. “It’s a really important initiative,” she said. “Overall, this is a big net positive.”
The inaugural meeting comes amid tensions between Beijing and many Western nations over trade, technology, military ambitions and human rights. But it is also marked by diplomatic seams among Western allies, with the TTC’s launch almost torpedoed by a row over French submarines.
“It’s not like we walk hand in hand like a married couple of 25 years,” said one EU official. “But it’s a relationship.”


Shocked by the announcement of an American-Australian-British Pacific defence pact known as Aukus, which ended a US$65 billion French deal with Canberra in favour of at least eight new US nuclear submarines, Paris threatened to cancel the Pittsburgh event. It also dragged its heels on semiconductor cooperation and raised timing concerns over the TTC’s next meeting, Politico reported.
An earlier draft of the statement seen by the Post made reference to achieving concrete outcomes “by the time of our next meeting in the spring of 2022”. The final version omitted the spring 2022 scheduling reference.
European officials played down any major differences, adding that the next meeting would likely be in Europe in the first quarter.
The statement is long on plans but short on tangible projects, with a section on “Pittsburgh outcomes” infused with such aspirational phrasing as “we believe”, “we recognise” and “we intend”.
With different visions, Xi and Biden pledge to fight pandemics, global warming
The document outlines a collaborative approach focused loosely on investment screening, export controls, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and resolving global trade challenges.
It also calls for the formation of 10 working groups in specific areas, including tech standards, clean technology, resilient supply chains and such sensitive technologies as 5G and advanced 6G networks, undersea cables, data centres and cloud infrastructure.
Another working group is charged with addressing the “misuse of technology threatening security and human rights”, including unlawful online surveillance, foreign misinformation and “address social scoring systems”, apparently a reference to China’s controversial social credit system.

Senior European officials who spoke on background said the TTC did not mention China by name in part because the EU already has other discussions with the US specifically focused on China, technology and trade.
They added that mentioning China might also ‘confuse” issues. “The logic is not to be against somebody but to be for something and to try to push that agenda,” one official said.
Analysts added that omitting specific references to China also serves other purposes: it attempts to address irritants, including state-directed capitalism and intellectual property theft, that are not unique to Beijing, however effectively it wields them. And it reduces somewhat the risk of a Chinese backlash amid Beijing’s growing willingness to cut off trade and punish perceived adversaries.
“Countries realise that China is important to them in many ways,” said Nicole Bivens Collinson, managing principal at Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg and a former top negotiator in the Office of the US Trade Representative.
White House presses carmakers and chip firms to assist in solving shortage
“China may be the biggest users of certain policies, but neither the US nor the EU want to make China the enemy. They need to be engaged.”
Top European officials and analysts said the TTC would have to deliver practical outcomes and navigate numerous shoals if it hopes to make a difference geopolitically or economically and become more than a “talking shop”.
“We are far from a transatlantic honeymoon,” said Reinhard Bütikofer, head of the European Parliament‘s China delegation.
The transatlantic challenges include easing tensions over US punitive steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by former president Donald Trump and addressing long-standing non-tariff barriers, such as health and safety standards, imposed by both sides that effectively exclude foreign competitors.


EU officials said there was no discussion of metal tariffs or Trump, adding that the goal was to “move forward”.
Another major concern is managing the global semiconductor shortage that is seizing up supply chains, affecting everything from cars to computers. While both sides agree on the dire nature of the problem, national security concerns and parochial interests could undermine US-EU cooperation.
Semiconductors also underscore the limits of the new council’s reach, amid different outlooks in Washington and Brussels involving China and technology, analysts said.
EU officials said there was discussion of the need to cooperate to avoid a “subsidy race” that could fuel overcapacity and undercut the industry.
On a related front, the main manufacturers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment – a technology Washington is keen to keep out of China’s hands so the West can maintain its lead – are the United States, the Netherlands and South Korea. “So US-EU cooperation is not going to do it alone,” said Manuel.
EU defends plan to expand Taiwan relations ‘without recognition of statehood’
“And there are two conflicting issues here,” she added. “If you talk to many Americans, they’ll say TTC is a way to get Europe on our side in countering China. And if you talk to Europeans, they’ll say this is a way to get Americans on side to regulate big tech. Hopefully if they work hard, they can do a bit of both.”
Officials say the Biden administration chose the venue for TTC’s launch – a former steel factory recast as a technology centre – for its obvious transformative symbolism, to underscore the theme of new-economy jobs. Pennsylvania is also a key swing state that went narrowly for Biden in 2020.
In a follow-up meeting with chief executives of local companies, Biden, Raimondo, Tai, Vestager and Dombrovskis emphasised the importance of creating high-paying jobs and matching hi-tech opportunities with the right skills.
“If anyone doubted that we have anything in common, this is it,” said Vestager, echoing Raimondo’s concerns that some 500,000 US cyber technician jobs are going unfilled. “We need to do the same thing.”


Why China’s frontier AI pioneers are expected to miss this week’s Xi-Trump summit

Some family offices eyeing Chinese investments as US-China tensions ease: report

Xi and Trump face their greatest challenge yet: building US-China trust

China tightens control on more fentanyl precursors ahead of Xi-Trump meeting

US-China relations

US, EU meet to forge trade and tech alliance to reduce dependence on China

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken attend the inaugural Trade and Technology Council meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

(L-R) US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet with European Union commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis, during the inaugural US-EU Trade and Technology Council in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 29, 2021. - US and EU officials will hold two days of high-level meetings in Pittsburgh this week in an effort to repair relations damaged under the administration of Donald Trump and boost cooperation on technology issues. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)

Katherine Tai, U.S. trade representative, speaks with members of the media with Valdis Dombrovskis, trade commissioner for the European Union (EU), right, outside the office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. Tai and Dombrovskis are meeting ahead of the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council in Pittsburgh on Sept. 29. Photographer: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg

EU, US launch trade, technology council to outcompete China

US President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the aviation trade dispute suspension could be a model for how the countries can work together to tackle “other challenges posed by China and non-market economic competition”. Photo: Reuters

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

US, UK, Australia announce ‘historic’ military partnership in move likely to anger China

US President Joe Biden speaks at the White House about the new security alliance with Australia and Britain. Joining virtually were Australian leader Scott Morrison (left) and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photo: EPA-EFE

210719-N-XB010-1003 CORAL SEA (July 19, 2021) Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) begin a combat rubber raiding craft operation from the USS New Orleans (LPD 18) stern gate as part of Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21). TS21 is a large-scale, bilateral military exercise conducted biennially across Northern Australia designed to enhance the U.S.-Australia alliance, which is an anchor or pace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Exercises like this provide effective and intense training to ensure our forces are capable, interoperable, responsive, and combat-ready. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Desmond Parks)

In this photo taken on October 12, 2016, a Royal Australian Navy diesel and electric-powered Collins Class submarine sits in Sydney Harbour. Australia awarded French contractor DCNS the main contract in April 2016 to design and build its next generation of submarines to replace the aging Collins Class. The vessels will be a scaled-down, conventionally powered version of France's 4,700-tonne nuclear-fuelled Barracuda. / AFP PHOTO / PETER PARKS

Aircraft carriers and warships participate in the second phase of Malabar naval exercise, a joint exercise comprising of India, US, Japan and Australia, in the Northern Arabian Sea on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. The four countries form the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad. (Indian Navy via AP)

EU defends plan to expand Taiwan relations ‘without recognition of statehood’

Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said on Tuesday that the EU would proceed with plans to expand relations with Taiwan – though “without any recognition of statehood”. Photo: EPA-EFE

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2021, file photo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers his opening remarks at the Lanting Forum on bringing China-U.S. relations back to the right track, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Beijing. According the the China Foreign Ministry, Yi has held a “positive and constructive” virtual meeting Monday, Sept. 28, 2021, with NATO's chief Jens Stoltenberg discussing the situation in Afghanistan, amid longstanding disagreements between Beijing and the U.S.-led alliance over regional policies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Xi Jinping, China's president, speaks during a prerecorded video at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. A scaled-back United Nations General Assembly returns to Manhattan after going completely virtual last year, but fears about a possible spike in Covid-19 cases are making people in the host city less enthusiastic about the annual diplomatic gathering. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Japan, US risk losing military tech edge to China, Tokyo official says

Japan is directing growing resources into its defence industry. Photo: Kyodo

News

China

World

United States & Canada

Europe

Knowledge

US-China Relations


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



Trade and Technology Council is an effort to counter China’s often disruptive global footprint through multinational partnership, a goal of President Joe Biden.
