In January 2024, the European Union and United States met in Washington, D.C. for the fifth ministerial conference of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). techUK has followed closely the evolution of the negotiations within the TTC, the impacts of which can be felt well beyond the EU and the U.S. only. Indeed, we have taken part in the stakeholder dialogue events of the last two ministerial meetings in Lulea, Sweden last year and Washington D.C. this January. A next and last meeting until the elections is tentatively scheduled for Brussels in April.
Established with the aim of fostering cooperation on critical issues at the intersection of trade and technology, the TTC represents a core platform for dialogue and cooperation on crucial transatlantic matters.
What is the US-EU Trade and Technology Council?
The U.S.-EU TTC is an ambitious high-level forum that brings together representatives from the United States and the European Union to address key challenges and opportunities in trade and technology.
It is co-led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and European Commission Executive Vice-President and EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and European Commission Executive Vice-President and EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
It serves as a platform for dialogue, collaboration, and joint action on a wide range of issues, including green technology, cybersecurity, supply chain resilience, and export controls and investment screening.
What it isn't?
The TTC is not a free trade agreement negotiation. It does not include provisions on tariffs or market access.
Organizational Structure
The TTC is structured around 10 working groups, allowing for focused deliberations on specific topics. Each working group is tasked with addressing a particular area of interest.
- Technology standards cooperation
- Climate and clean tech
- Secure supply chains
- ICTs security and competitiveness
- Data governance and technology platform
- Misuse of technology threatening security & human rights
- Export controls cooperation
- Investment screening cooperation
- Promoting SME access to and use of digital technologies
- Global trade challenges
Through regular meetings and consultations, political leaders and civil servants on both sides have worked towards identifying common objectives, sharing best practices, and developing concrete initiatives for cooperation.
Achievements to Date
It would be fair to say we've seen more outcomes in tech than in trade.
The TTC has created three expert groups on artificial intelligence and established a “EU-U.S. Terminology and Taxonomy for Artificial Intelligence” meant to improve transatlantic cooperation over AI regulation.
The cooperation on export controls and sanctions in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in view of the ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions, has often been highlighted as a win of the TTC.
More recently, discussions around Chinese legacy chip overcapacity have focused minds at the latest ministerial in Washington D.C.
However, probably the biggest win of the TTC so far has been the sheer scale of the engagement. Hundreds of civil servants on both sides have been involved in these negotiations, leading to higher understanding of each other's systems, processes and sensitivities.
The Future of the U.S.-EU TTC
Besides the final meeting likely to take place in Brussels in April, it is hard to foresee where the future leadership of the EU and the U.S. will take this foundational work if anywhere.
In a post-FTA era, the TTC has created an important framework for meaningful discussion on ongoing and fast-moving issues around technology and trade.
One thing is sure: whatever form a framework for transatlantic cooperation may take in the future, it must include serious stakeholder consultation to be successful.