While Europeans believe that American subsidies for green technologies under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will harm their economies, Joe Biden and Ursula von der Leyen agreed on Friday March 10 during a meeting at the White House, to start discussions on essential raw materials, which are used in particular to manufacture electric vehicles.
The American IRA provides billions of dollars of financing to support projects in the field of the fight against global warming, with in particular tax credits and subsidies to support the energy transition of companies. The Biden administration is seeking to address the concerns of Europeans while maintaining the fundamental principles of the law.
Negotiations. Joe Biden and Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement released after their meeting that they plan “to immediately begin negotiations to find a targeted agreement on essential raw materials”. These negotiations aim to reach an agreement for minerals mined or processed in the EU to be taken into account in the calculation of tax credits for clean vehicles under the IRA.
“Cooperation is also needed to reduce undesirable strategic dependencies on supply chains and to ensure that they are diversified and developed with trusted partners,” the statement also said. In addition, the US President and the President of the European Commission underlined the strength of their partnership, as well as their unanimous support for Ukraine, during a statement delivered in the Oval Office before their meeting.
(with Reuters)
