BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The first meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) will be held on September 29 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It will be co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Trade Representative Katherine Tai, together with European Commission Executive Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis.
TTC was established during the U.S.-EU Summit in June by U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to expand and deepen trade and transatlantic investment ties and update the rules of the road for the 21st century economy.
Pittsburgh was chosen as the venue for the first meeting, considering the fact that the U.S. city has reinvented itself as a hub for technology and cutting-edge industry by investing in itself and in its workers, including by building ties with European partners.
In the meeting, the TTC's ten working groups will tackle a diverse set of challenges, including technology standards cooperation, supply chain security, climate and green technology, ICT security and competitiveness, data governance and technology platforms, the misuse of technology threatening security and human rights, export controls, investment screening, global trade challenges, and access to, and use of, digital technologies by small and medium enterprises.
'Building on our shared democratic values and the world's largest economic relationship, we have been working hard since the Summit to identify the areas where we can take concrete steps to ensure trade and technology policies deliver for our people. In conjunction with the TTC, both the EU and U.S. are committed and look forward to robust and ongoing engagement with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that the outcomes from this cooperation support broad-based growth in both economies and are consistent with our shared values,' the co-chairs said in a joint statement.
'In conjunction with the TTC, both governments are committed to robust and ongoing engagement with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that the outcomes from this cooperation support broad-based growth in both economies and are consistent with our shared values,' NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne said, announcing the Inaugural U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council Meeting.
U.S. goods and services trade with the European bloc totaled an estimated $1.1 trillion in 2019.
In 2020, the United States was the largest partner for EU exports of goods and the second largest partner for EU imports of goods.
In August last year, the United States and the EU had agreed to a package of tariff reductions that will increase market access for hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. and EU exports.
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