WASHINGTON -European Union and U.S. officials expect to reach agreement that would grant EU companies, including electric car makers, the same status as U.S. ones in the U.S. market, to avoid what the EU calls discrimination against its producers by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for trade, is holding talks on Thursday and Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the issue."That would not have been possible without the un-discriminatory EU subsidy, while EU electric cars do not get a similar subsidy in the U.S., which is discrimination that we want to address," Dombrovskis said.
He said the problem also concerned a wide range of goods from the"green economy" sector, including batteries, hydrogen, and renewable energy equipment."We hope we can resolve these issues before they become disputes," he said, adding talks would focus on whether changes to the status of EU companies could be made through implementation of regulations to the U.S. law, rather than having to send the whole Inflation Reduction Act back to Congress for amendments.