The United States will treat essential materials for green technologies mined or processed in the European Union as if they came from the US. This was agreed by President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and US president Joe Biden. Von der Leyen visited Biden at the White House.
The agreements, which need to be further elaborated, should provide a solution in a lingering conflict over US subsidies for green technology. The EU countries felt that the requirements amounted to American protectionism. They feared that companies would prefer to invest in the US and therefore would not invest in the development of production capacity in the EU.
For example, Batteries for electric cars require a lot of metals and minerals. Europe wants them to be mined here too, but if the US prefers those materials from its own country, that could be bad for European industry. The question remains whether the agreement can also count on the support of American politics.
About the author: Rick Culpepper
Rick Culpepper is of those journalists who dig the topic to the very bottom. He is often late with the delivery of the piece, but always does it perfectly. In his spare time, he collects data for one of the most high-profile investigations of corruption in the EU.
