Karen Kornbluh, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative and former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, released the following statement as the U.S.-EU Trade and Tech Council meets today in Pittsburgh:
“Despite the modest communique and lack of fanfare, there’s a seismic shift in the global economic ground rules happening in Pittsburgh. The U.S. and Europe each had serious frustrations to address – the US against China and Europe against US tech companies – that were undermining U.S.- EU relations and providing an opening China exploited to dominate a number of key industries and launch cyber incursions.
“Today, the U.S. and Europe are attempting to move forward in a way that doesn’t undermine the existing rules-based system but imbues it with meaning to tackle new tech challenges – by laying out how they will respond to security, unfair trade practice, and human rights threats that exploit technology – and to do so transparently and not as excuses for protectionism. If they succeed, the result will be greater innovation and protection of human rights and security.
“On the U.S. side, agreeing to the EU risk-based approach and common standards on AI is a big step. And Europe is agreeing to work with the U.S. on foreign investment curbs and export controls – if these breaks on laissez-faire are done transparently on security, human rights, and trade grounds.
“There are clearly still tensions, which resulted in less progress on the key digital input of semiconductors than expected, and China is not standing still. But the efforts today are a win-win for both the Biden Administration’s foreign policy agenda and Ursula von der Leyen’s digital Europe.”
GMF’s Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative is dedicated to ensuring that technology advances democratic values, supports national security, and contributes to innovation-driven economic growth.
