U.S., EU agree to work on chip supplies, tech rules, China trade
A security guard walks near EU and U.S. flags, before the EU-US summit, in Brussels, Belgium
PITTSBURGH/WASHINGTON: (Reuters) - The United States and European Union agreed on Wednesday to deepen transatlantic cooperation to strengthen semiconductor supply chains, curb China s non-market trade practices and take a more unified approach to regulating big, global technology firms
The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council had its first meeting in a former steel mill building in southeast Pittsburgh that has been repurposed as a research and development center for artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and advanced production.
Main members were U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai; EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis; and European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager. A joint statement is expected to be issued later on Wednesday.
The meeting was almost wrecked by French rage over a U.S. decision this month to supply Australia with nuclear submarines, which triggered Canberra to scrap a $40 billion submarine contract with France.
However, EU governments supported a joint declaration to strengthen semiconductor supply chains that says the bloc and the United States share mutual supply dependencies in the near term, although a reference to a second TTC meeting in the first quarter of 2022 was dropped.
As the U.S. and Europe try to restrain the growing power of American tech giants such as Google , Facebook, Apple and Amazon.com Inc ,cooperation has become significant for regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. It also would make it harder for the U.S. tech industry to fight new rules.
The council has 10 groups and willing to discuss areas such as chip shortages, artificial intelligence (AI) and tech competition issues.
Several tech trade groups in Washington said the industry does not want the European approach to digital regulation to be adopted in the United States.
