Posted on Sep 30, 2021 at 12:22 PM
For their first meeting since the Australian submarine crisis and the first formal bilateral summit since the Covid, Americans and Europeans exposed some of their differences. The most important, which has defined the transatlantic relationship since Joe Biden came to power, remains the attitude to adopt towards China. Washington would have liked clearer stances from the Europeans.
In the end, the name of the Chinese competitor will never have been mentioned. “At the start of the discussions, the subject was raised but our position was clear. It was not a question of opposing a country, but of advancing a common agenda, ”indicated a European official in Pittsburgh on Wednesday at the first meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC).
Calm the diplomatic game
The European trade commissioner preferred to insist on the rapprochement between Americans and Europeans vis-à-vis Beijing. “We share the same concerns about their aid to industry, technology transfers, their industrial policy, the determining role of the State in certain companies and in the economy. This is why we agree on coordinating in the face of non-market economies, ”explained Valdis Dombrovskis.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had made the trip, preferred to kick in on issues affecting China, contenting himself with indicating that together, the United States and Europe have “the capacity to ‘impose standards’.
A positive assessment
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo took fewer gloves earlier this week when she said in an interview with CNBC: “If we really want to slow the pace of Chinese innovation, we need to work with Europe. And to vilify Beijing’s attitude. “They are taking away our intellectual property, they are not playing by the rules. It is not a level playing field. ”
Despite these divergences and differences on semiconductors, for example, the results of this first TTC summit were nevertheless considered positive by the participants. “This advice was announced in June. Three months later, we have made progress on a large number of subjects, ”a European official congratulated himself. “We can achieve in the next six months, on subjects extremely important for our future”, announced for its part the Commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager.
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