The United States and the European Union will negotiate a revised trade agreement that could allow European manufacturers to receive U.S. tax credits for producing critical minerals such as lithium and nickel for electric car batteries.
Following a March 10 meeting at the White House between President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the leaders agreed to initiate talks about the “Made in America” provision in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that the EU maintains is “protectionist” and an obstacle in breaking free from dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Biden and von der Leyen did not take questions after the meeting but issued a joint statement that said the United States and European Union “are taking new steps to deepen our economic relationship as we build the clean energy economies of the future and address shared economic and national security challenges.”
The leaders said a common commitment to “addressing the climate crisis, accelerating the global clean energy economy, and building resilient, secure, and diversified clean energy supply chains” is prompting a review of the IRA “Made in America” policy.
“By building and strengthening our own clean energy industrial bases and investing in the industries of the future, the United States and the European Union will create good-paying jobs and spark virtuous cycles of innovation that drive down costs for clean energy technologies in the global market, making those technologies more affordable and advancing a global just energy transition that will leave no community behind,” they said in the joint statementVon der Leyen spearheaded an eight-member delegation during the Oval Office meeting that included EU ambassador to the United States Stavros Lambrinidis, trade advisor Tomas Baert, and head of political, security, and development of the EU’s U.S. delegation Claire Fitzgibbon.
In addition to Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan were among White House officials who participated in the meeting.The United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom are launching ambitious plans to secure their own critical mineral supply lines, which Biden and von der Leyen said will be the focus of intensifying coordination.
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