Sanctions on Russia Bolster Role Of New U.S.-EU Tech Council

"A new forum for the U.S. and European Union to settle differences on trade and technology policy has taken on added significance following sanctions on Russia, with supporters positioning it as a model for broader cooperation among free-market democracies.

The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) had its first meeting in Pittsburgh last fall, which participants said helped forge ties that proved critical when the two economies joined forces to impose sanctions on Russia after Feb. 24.

Now, knowledge gained in preparing those sanctions will help shape the agenda for the TTC's second meeting near Paris on Monday, said officials from both sides.

Cooperation and trust developed in the TTC "helped us to coordinate very efficiently and impose export controls in a very short time and a coordinated way between the EU and U.S." against Russia, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said at a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai in Washington last month.

Underpinning the meeting is a growing belief in Washington, in Brussels and among other allies that like-minded free-market democracies must work together to respond to the challenges posed by authoritarian regimes.

In Pittsburgh, much of the focus revolved around threats to Western economies from China, such as subsidies for semiconductors and other favored industries.

The U.S. was represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Ms. Tai, and the EU by Mr. Dombrovskis and fellow Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager.

In addition to Beijing's expanding role in the digital world, other topics included cooperation on semiconductor-supply chains, export controls on sensitive technologies and misuse of technology threatening security or human rights.

Lower-level officials quickly dug into 10 working groups, swapping contact details and arranging meetings. Within weeks many of those budding trans-Atlantic relations formed the basis of sanctions planning, say officials from both sides.

U.S. and EU officials said their fast reaction was only possible thanks to groundwork set at the TTC and parallel negotiations defusing disputes over aviation subsidies, steel tariffs and digital data.

"What we've seen on sanctions is an unprecedented level of cooperation between the European Commission and the United States," Mark Gitenstein, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, said in March.

Alignment still has limits, such as over energy and environmental policies.

Europe is far more exposed to the economic impact of sanctions than the U.S. is because many large EU countries rely on imports of Russian gas and oil. Washington, meanwhile, has been more hesitant than Brussels to embrace a transition to green renewable-energy sources.

Officials on both sides say that current cooperation could fade if political power in Washington shifts after the midterm elections in November or the presidential election in 2024.

Still, both sides see lessons from the past year.

To make sanctions work, U.S. and EU officials spent more than three months deepening their understanding of each other's financial regulations, export-control regimes and foreign-investment rules.

Seeking to achieve common goals despite differing legal systems, they developed a new approach focused on results -- including denying Moscow access to advanced semiconductors and cutting Russia out of the global financial grid -- rather than comparing legal texts or fighting over regulatory jurisdictions, as had sometimes been the case regarding sanctions in the past.

EU specialists boosted cooperation with counterparts at obscure U.S. offices like the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export regulations.

Work standing up the TTC "created a level of trust" that permitted that cooperation, said a senior Commission official, voicing a view echoed by U.S. officials." [1]

1. The Ukraine Crisis: Sanctions on Russia Bolster Role Of New U.S.-EU Tech Council
Michaels, Daniel. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 16 May 2022: A.8.