Dombrovskis To Meet With US Officials On Metals And Critical Minerals

EU Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis will hold key meetings, this week, with Biden administration officials, including Trade Rep Katherine Tai, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, on a 'Global Sustainable Arrangement' on steel and aluminium (GSA) and an EU-US Critical Minerals Agreements (CMA).

• Politico reports that current deadline for the GSA is October, but "the two sides appear to still be far apart."
• US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed in April to launch talks on a critical minerals pact, which would allow European firms access to US Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.
• Politico notes that, "in order to secure a binding agreement, the European Commission... needs a negotiating mandate from EU countries, which is a time-consuming process Brussels had hoped to avoid."
• Tai and Dombrovskis will also discuss the agenda for the next meeting of the bilateral Trade and Technology Council set to take place in the US at the end of the year which EU officials say will focus on "deeper cooperation on conformity assessment and trade facilitation for clean tech goods."