After two days of intensive talks in Paris, the EU and U.S. vowed to step up efforts to set the rules of the road for cutting-edge technology, in order to counter the rising influence of China and other “non-market economies”. Speaking to reporters after the second meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC), U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the U.S. and EU “work together to align our technology standards in a way that’s consistent with our democratic values. If non-market economies control international standard-setting bodies, it’s a very powerful way to block out the U.S. and the EU. So we are going to work together to make sure we show up at the standard-setting bodies,” Raimondo said. The West has long been concerned about losing the fight on standardization for hi-tech products, which can be lucrative but also strategically crucial given the rapid pace of technological development.
Whoever leads in advanced tech sectors like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G, 6G and beyond will rule the world, and transatlantic officials see the signing of a specific agreement on standards in Paris as a first step to wresting back some control from China on this front. A 47-page joint statement released following the forum’s conclusion is replete with language about the need to counter autocratic countries’ efforts to use technology to “implement authoritarian policies, perpetrate human rights violations and abuses, engage in other forms of repression, and undermine the security of other nations”.
Raimondo, along with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and EU counterparts Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, set up a Strategic Standardization Information mechanism, seen as the launchpad for collaboration on standards. The first area of focus will be electric vehicle charging infrastructure, which an EU official said would be the “first concrete deliverable” in the initiative. “This will take shape in the next year and will be a game changer,” the official said. The U.S. and the EU also plan to discuss weaning the West off Chinese solar panels and rare earth magnets, the South China Morning Post reports.
