Both the EU and the US are pursuing policies to strengthen economic security and to reduce strategic dependencies in emerging and critical technologies. As such, the technology areas identified as critical to transatlantic security interest can provide the foundation for an agreement that contributes to achieve shared policy objectives.
- The EU and the US enjoy the largest trade and investment partnership in the world and constitute each other’s most important geoeconomic base. In times of geostrategic competition, barriers to trade limit EU-US technological leadership to the benefit of our competitors, says Joel Jonsson, Director for International Trade at the Technology Industries of Sweden.
The costs on both sides would be substantial should new barriers to trade be raised. On the other hand, the mutual gains from a more open EU-US trade environment could be immense. In a position published today, the Technology Industries of Sweden therefore proposes the following as building blocks in a possible agreement to promote transatlantic trade and economic security:
- Establish common definitions and harmonize lists of critical technologies
- Promote synergies in strategies to strengthen industrial competitiveness
- Engage in regulatory cooperation on rules and norms shaping global trade
- Remove remaining tariffs for industrial products on reciprocal basis
- Extend mutual recognition of conformity assessment for industrial products
- Enter into a partnership on digital trade
- Partner to strengthen the critical minerals and raw materials supply chain
To carry out the recommendations, the organization calls on EU and US policymakers to establish a governance body with the explicit mission and mandates on both sides to strengthen economic security through increased transatlantic market integration.
Download the position paper
Proposals to Promote Transatlantic Trade and Economic Security
