U.S. and EU Work To Defuse Dispute Over Subsidies

"WASHINGTON -- The U.S. and Europe agreed to new steps aimed at resolving a spat over subsidies for clean-energy technology, an effort to preserve a trans-Atlantic relationship that had strengthened following events in Ukraine.

Since Congress passed the climate and healthcare law called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) last year, European officials have complained loudly about provisions they fear disadvantage their own industries. They have taken aim at U.S. subsidies for electric vehicles that impose new requirements on the source of the materials used in the vehicles, as well as a wider range of tax incentives that officials believe could draw investment out of Europe and into the U.S.

After a meeting at the White House, President Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday announced new initiatives to smooth over some of those concerns. They said they would formally begin talks on a new trade deal focused on critical raw materials, a step designed to allow minerals from Europe to meet a sourcing requirement for the electric-vehicle subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The two leaders also discussed Europe's own new plans to subsidize clean-energy technology. Biden administration officials had largely shrugged off earlier European demands to limit U.S. subsidies for clean energy, instead encouraging the EU to strengthen its own subsidies. The European Commission, the bloc's executive body, announced those plans on Thursday, saying they would make it easier for governments to offer tax breaks and other benefits to clean-tech companies and in some cases allow them to match subsidies offered in the U.S. or elsewhere.

"Indeed we welcome the Inflation Reduction Act because it is a massive investment in the green transition moving towards a net-zero economy," Ms. von der Leyen said Friday. "It is mirrored by the Green Deal industrial plan in the European Union."

The EU plans to allow matching subsidies for specific European clean-tech sectors that officials believe are at risk from the IRA, including solar panels, and wind turbine and battery manufacturing. The commission, which sought to limit the push by some member states for swift retaliatory action against Washington over the IRA, is also set to put forward legislation next week aimed at speeding up permitting and securing the raw materials needed to make clean-tech products.

Several European industry groups and companies said they were encouraged by the change in EU subsidy rules but were waiting to see how they will be applied.

The European Heat Pump Association, an industry group, said the new rules should put European companies on fairer footing with their U.S. counterparts.

Denmark-headquartered engineering company Danfoss A/S, which makes components for heat pumps, said the change should help the bloc catch up with the benefits Washington is offering through the IRA.

"The Americans know how to keep it simple, and we similarly need a faster and less-bureaucratic and fragmented support system in Europe," said Martin Rossen, the company's senior vice president for group communications and sustainability. He said he hoped the new state aid rules would be a step in that direction." [1]

 

America's policy here is clear: keep talking nice and handing out those wonderful bags of money to businesses. European hens and castrated roosters are still able to talk, but do not collect taxes into the common boiler, so a simple business subsidy program cannot be created by them. 

 

1. World News: U.S. and EU Work To Defuse Dispute Over Subsidies
Duehren, Andrew; Kim Mackrael.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 11 Mar 2023: A.8.

Kinijos naujosios diplomatijos modelis pasiekė pergalę

  „Naujienos, kad Kinija tarpininkavo per Artimųjų Rytų diplomatinį proveržį, suteikė iki šiol apčiuopiamiausių įrodymų, kad Pekinas nori panaudoti jo pasaulinę įtaką, kad padėtų išspręsti užsienio ginčus.

 

     Penktadienį kartu su Kinija išplatintame pareiškime varžovės Saudo Arabija ir Iranas teigė sutinkančios atkurti diplomatinius ryšius, kurie buvo nutraukti 2016 m. Siekdama paskatinti susitarimą, Kinija surengė nepaskelbtą keturių dienų derybų sesiją tarp Artimųjų Rytų priešininkų.

 

     Užsienio politikos analitikai teigia, kad netikėtas įvykis verčia Vašingtoną pastebėti, kad. nepaisant istorinio JAV vaidmens ir karinio pėdsako Artimuosiuose Rytuose, Kinija ten yra auganti ekonominė ir diplomatinė jėga. 

 

Nors Pekinas dalyvavo ankstesnėse tarptautinėse derybose, pavyzdžiui, pastangose priversti Iraną ir Šiaurės Korėją sustabdyti jų branduolinio ginklo programas, naujausias susitarimas suteikė tam tikros prasmės Pekino iniciatyvoms, kaip teigiama, kaip naujas tarptautinių santykių pavyzdys.

 

     Kinija priartėjo prie naftos turtingų Artimųjų Rytų, nes ji tapo pirmaujančia energijos importuotoja pasaulyje, tačiau dabar jos vaidmuo yra daug didesnis.

 

     Nors JAV tebėra neginčijama karinė galia, pagalbos teikėja ir politinė įtaka visame regione, Kinija yra didžiausia Artimųjų Rytų prekybos partnerė, kurios vaidmuo investicijų ir infrastruktūros kūrimo srityje sparčiai auga.

 

     „Anksčiau JAV buvo nepakeičiama galia“, – sakė Izraelyje gyvenantis akademikas ir nereziduojantis Atlanto tarybos „Global China Hub“ bendradarbis Tuvia Gering, daug rašantis apie augantį Pekino vaidmenį regione. „Dabar Kinija yra nepakeičiama galia Artimuosiuose Rytuose – tai faktas."

 

     Xi Jinpingas, penktadienį užsitikrinęs trečią kadenciją Kinijos prezidento poste, ryžosi užmegzti santykius visuose Artimuosiuose Rytuose, įskaitant Iraną ir Saudo Arabiją. Ponas Xi pastaraisiais mėnesiais lankėsi abiejose šalyse ir susitiko su kiekvienu jų lyderiu, pasveikino juos į Kinijos įkurtus regioninius ir saugumo dialogus, palaikė juos Vakarų kritikos akivaizdoje, pritardamas didelėms investicijoms į jų infrastruktūros statybą.

 

     Nuo pat atėjimo į valdžią prieš dešimtmetį, J. Xi bandė iškirpti rolę Kinijai, kaip pasaulio galiai, kuri elgiasi kitaip, nei JAV, ir siūlo alternatyvą geopolitikoje kitoms šalims.

 

     Netrukus po įvykių Ukrainoje, ponas Xi pradėjo naują diplomatinį postūmį – „Pasaulinio saugumo iniciatyvą“, kuri paragino „nedalomą saugumą“ – bandymą, anot užsienio reikalų specialistų, išskirti Kiniją iš „kolektyvinio saugumo“, kuris remiasi JAV aljanso sistema ir, kaip Pekinas baiminasi, kad mobilizuojasi, siekiant apriboti Pekino ambicijas.

 

     Remiantis naujausia šių pastangų analize, žymi P. Xi miglotos saugumo iniciatyvos dalis apibūdino Kiniją, kaip iškeliančią ketinimą „taikiai išspręsti šalių nesutarimus ir ginčus per dialogą ir konsultacijas, remti visas pastangas, padedančias taikiai išspręsti krizes“, sako Kewalramani, Indijos ekspertų grupės „Takshashila Institution“ Kinijos specialistas.

 

     Pekinas vasario pabaigoje taip pat sužadino diplomatinę bendruomenę, skatindamas naujas pastangas užbaigti įvykius Ukrainoje. Kai pagaliau pasirodė jo politinis pareiškimas, Vakarų lyderiai apgailestavo, kad jis nepasiūlė daug kelio taikos link. Vis dėlto 12 punktų dokumentas sulaukė geresnio pritarimo daugelyje besivystančių šalių, kuriose Pekino įtaka didesnė ir kuriose įvykių įtaka maisto tiekimui ir kylančioms kainoms buvo stipriai juntama.

 

     „Be kita ko, tai rodo, kad yra klaida atmesti Kiniją kaip potencialią taikdarę Ukrainoje, kaip mes refleksyviai padarėme“, – sakė Chasas Freemanas, išėjęs į pensiją JAV ambasadorius, ėjęs aukštas pareigas Kinijoje ir Saudo Arabijoje.

 

     Iranas ir Saudo Arabija yra dvi dažnai smurtinės musulmonų šiitų ir sunitų schizmos pusės – priešprieša, kuri atsiliepia visuose Artimuosiuose Rytuose. Kaip ir Kinija, jie turi autokratinius režimus, turinčius sunkius santykius su JAV – šiuos ryšius Pekinas dažnai pabrėždavo, sakydamas, kad jo diplomatijai nereikia vakarietiškos demokratijos.

 

     P. Xi šiluma Iranui ir Saudo Arabijai privertė jį atrodyti, kaip ketinimą pakenkti JAV galiai, kaip ir jo ilgalaikiai santykiai su kita energijos tiekėja Rusija. Penktadienį p. Xi vyriausiasis tarptautinis pasiuntinys Wang Yi, atrodo, prikišo JAV, sakydamas, kad Saudo Arabijos ir Irano susitarimas parodė, kaip abi šalys „atsikrato išorinių trukdžių ir iš tikrųjų prisiima atsakomybę už jų ateitį bei likimą Artimuosiuose Rytuose į savo rankas“.

 

     JAV neatsižvelgė į Pekino vaidmenį tarpininkaujant susitarimui, kad sutelktų dėmesį į platesnį Artimųjų Rytų saugumą. „Tai ne apie Kiniją“, – žurnalistams penktadienį sakė Baltųjų rūmų Nacionalinio saugumo tarybos strateginis koordinatorius Johnas Kirby. "Mes remiame bet kokias pastangas sumažinti įtampą regione. Manome, kad tai atitinka mūsų interesus, ir tai yra kažkas, prie ko dirbome, naudodami mūsų veiksmingą atgrasymo ir diplomatijos derinį“, – sakė jis." [1]

 

1. World News: China's Model for a New Diplomacy Scores a Victory
Areddy, James T; Hutzler, Charles.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 11 Mar 2023: A.8.

China's Model for a New Diplomacy Scores a Victory

"News that China brokered a Mideast diplomatic breakthrough offered the most tangible evidence to date that Beijing is willing to leverage its global influence to help resolve foreign disputes.

In a statement issued along with China, rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran on Friday said they agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties that were severed in 2016. To propel the agreement, China hosted an unannounced four-day negotiating session between the Middle East adversaries in Beijing, where the parties pushed an agreement over the finish line.

The surprise development puts Washington on notice that despite the U.S.'s historical role and military footprint in the Middle East, China is a rising economic and diplomatic force there, foreign-policy analysts say. While Beijing has participated in past international talks -- such as efforts to compel Iran and North Korea to halt their nuclear-weapons programs -- the latest deal added some substance to initiatives by Beijing it says serve as a new model for conducting international relations.

China drew closer to the oil-rich Middle East as it emerged as the world's No. 1 energy importer, but its role is now much larger.

While the U.S. remains the undisputed military power, aid provider and political influence across the region, China is the Middle East's biggest trading partner, with a fast-expanding role in investment and infrastructure construction.

"It used to be that the U.S. was the indispensable power," said Tuvia Gering, an Israel-based academic and nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, who has written extensively on Beijing's growing regional role. "Now China is an indispensable power in the Middle East -- that's a fact."

Xi Jinping, who secured a third term as China's president on Friday, has thrust himself into building relationships throughout the Middle East, including with Iran and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Xi has visited both nations and met each of their leaders in recent months, welcomed them into China-founded regional and security dialogues, and stood by them in the face of Western criticism, while endorsing big investments in their infrastructure construction.

Since coming to power a decade ago, Mr. Xi has been trying to carve a role for China as a world power that behaves differently from the U.S., and offers an alternative in geopolitics for other countries.

Shortly after events in Ukraine, Mr. Xi launched a new diplomatic push, the "Global Security Initiative," which called for "indivisible security" -- an attempt, foreign-affairs specialists said, to set China apart from the "collective security" that the U.S. alliance system is based on, and that Beijing fears is being mobilized to hem in its ambitions.

A notable plank of Mr. Xi's vague security initiative described China as intent on "peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises," according to a recent analysis of the endeavor by Manoj Kewalramani, a China specialist at India think tank Takshashila Institution.

Beijing also stirred anticipation in the diplomatic community in late February by promoting a fresh effort toward ending events in Ukraine. When its policy statement finally emerged, Western leaders panned it for stopping short of offering much of a path toward peace. Still, the 12-point document has gotten a better reception in many developing nations where Beijing's influence is bigger and where the events' impact on food supplies and rising prices has been strongly felt.

"Among other things, this suggests that it's a mistake to dismiss China as a potential peacemaker in Ukraine, as we reflexively did," said Chas Freeman, a retired U.S. ambassador who served in senior positions in China and Saudi Arabia.

Iran and Saudi Arabia represent two sides of an often violent schism between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, an antagonism that reverberates throughout the Middle East. Like China, they share autocratic regimes that have testy relations with the U.S. -- linkages Beijing has often highlighted by stressing that its brand of diplomacy doesn't require Western-style democracy.

Mr. Xi's warmth toward Iran and Saudi Arabia has made him appear intent to undermine U.S. power, as has his enduring relationship with Russia, another energy supplier. On Friday, Mr. Xi's top international envoy, Wang Yi, appeared to take a swipe at the U.S. by saying the Saudi-Iran deal demonstrated how the two nations were "getting rid of external interference, and truly taking the future and destiny of the Middle East into their own hands."

The U.S. looked past Beijing's role in brokering the deal to focus on wider Middle East security. "This is not about China," White House National Security Council Strategic Coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Friday. "We support any effort to de-escalate tensions in the region. We think that's in our interests, and it's something that we worked on through our own effective combination of deterrence and diplomacy," he said." [1]

1. World News: China's Model for a New Diplomacy Scores a Victory
Areddy, James T; Hutzler, Charles.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 11 Mar 2023: A.8.