US-EU Talks To Decouple Supply Chains From Dictatorships

On May 15-16, the US-EU Trade and Technology Committee (TTC) met in Paris to seek “decoupling” from China in key industrial sectors, such as solar cells, rare earths and chips, and to explore the transfer of key industrial supply chains to India and other democracies.

The US-EU Trade and Technology Committee is a platform for the United States and the European Union to resolve bilateral trade and technology policy differences. The committee held its first meeting in Pittsburgh last fall, when the two sides pledged to deepen transatlantic cooperation, strengthen chip supply chains to curb China’s non-market trade practices and take a more unified approach to regulating big global technology companies.

The committee is believed to have played an important role in advancing sanctions against Russia by the Group of Seven and other allies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This Paris meeting is the second meeting. According to the content of the draft joint statement and related news disclosed by several media before the meeting, the United States and the European Union want to deepen cooperation in four aspects in order to check and balance the authoritarian countries of China and Russia and get rid of their economic dependence. Including: Eliminating forced labor and increasing supply chain diversification and transparency in the rare earth, solar and chip industries. The joint statement is expected to be released after the meeting on the 16th.