Brussels/Frankfurt, 28 September 2021 – Commenting on the first meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council in Pittsburgh, Ulrich Ackermann, Head of the Foreign Trade Department at VDMA, said:

"The new Trade and Technology Council (TTC) launched by the EU and the U.S. represents a historic opportunity to finally tackle important issues in transatlantic economic relations together again. We therefore welcome the fact that, with the TTC, the two sides have created a platform for high-level dialogue on the dismantling of trade barriers between the European Union and the United States.

This dialogue must not lose sight of the transatlantic trade topics most important to  European mechanical engineering: mutual recognition of conformity assessments, and dropping industrial tariffs. Both of these issues should be put on the TTC’s agenda. Other ongoing challenges, such as the abolition of steel and aluminium tariffs and the restoration of a functioning dispute settlement mechanism at the WTO, also need to be addressed. Without resolving these issues, the work of the new body will remain incomplete.

It is important that the TTC also plans to do work in areas that go beyond pure trade, such as cooperation on artificial intelligence. We also welcome the TTC’s  proposal to create new channels for information sharing on cybersecurity, export controls, and investment screening, rather than establishing new regulatory frameworks that duplicate ongoing multilateral processes."

A photo of Ulrich Ackermann, Head of the Foreign Trade Department, can be found here.