User login

Margaret Spiegelman

Margaret Spiegelman

Margaret Spiegelman is an associate editor with Inside U.S. Trade.

Archived Articles

Vestager: Shared AI standards can help ‘enable’ EU-U.S. marketplace

Common standards for assessing risks posed by artificial intelligence tools under development by the U.S. and the European Union will help facilitate a trans-Atlantic marketplace, European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said in Washington on Wednesday, contending that consumers will “embrace” the technology if they trust it is safe. Vestager, a U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council co-chair, is in the U.S. for meetings with Biden administration officials, lawmakers and others less than a week after the conclusion of the...

Former official: U.S.-EU steel talks likely to continue in second Biden term

Trans-Atlantic talks about a “climate club” of countries aligned on steel and aluminum trade are likely to continue – depending on the outcome of the upcoming U.S. election, a former European trade official said on Tuesday, suggesting that the talks, now stalled, would get picked up again if President Biden wins. “It's clear that the conversation between the United States and the European Union on the potential to develop a climate club on steel and aluminium is something which is...

USTR releases Taiwan, Kenya text summaries, cites commitment to transparency

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Friday released summaries of U.S. negotiating texts in ongoing talks with Taiwan and Kenya, claiming a strong commitment to transparency as lawmakers gear up to grill U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during hearings later this month – and revealing some potential divergences in Washington’s approaches to labor issues with the two countries. The two sets of summaries cover U.S. proposals on labor, environment and agriculture under the U.S.-Taiwan 21st Century Trade Initiative...

Tai ties trade policy to antitrust enforcement, cites ‘common cause’

Past policies that prioritized efficiency – domestically and internationally – have led to harmful consolidation in the U.S. and abroad, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Wednesday, embracing a link between the administration’s approach to antitrust and trade policy that has drawn criticism from major business groups. During a “ fireside chat ” hosted by the American Society of International Law in Washington, Tai was asked how the administration’s trade policy fit with its approach to antitrust. She and...

USTR files RRM requests for reviews of steel, mining facilities in Mexico

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is continuing its aggressive use of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rapid-response mechanism, submitting two requests this week for Mexico to review the potential denial of labor rights at a steel component manufacturer and a mining facility. The two RRM requests, coming on Monday and Wednesday, bring the total number of U.S. requests to 22, according to a USTR statement on the most recent one. USTR Katherine Tai on Wednesday characterized her agency’s robust use...

U.S.-EU critical minerals agreement ‘not foreseen’ at trade and tech summit

LEUVEN, BELGIUM – The U.S. and the European Union are unlikely to finalize a critical minerals agreement before the close of the sixth U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council ministerial on Friday, a senior European Commission official said on Wednesday. A draft version of the TTC joint statement obtained by Inside U.S. Trade included bracketed language stating that the two parties would either announce an “agreement in principle” or “continuing negotiations” at the TTC meeting here this week. But the...

Stakeholders: U.S., EU talking ‘same language’ on labor, but ambitious outcomes unlikely

LEUVEN, BELGIUM – The tripartite Trade and Labor Dialogue established by the U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council has opened a new frontier for trans-Atlantic collaboration that reflects the Biden administration’s worker-centric trade priorities, but ambitious outcomes that build on industry and labor recommendations are unlikely at the sixth TTC ministerial this week, stakeholders say. The TALD was launched on the sidelines of the third TTC ministerial in December 2022, bringing together U.S. and European Commission officials, trade unions and...

Tai’s Belgium itinerary set: Two days of TTC meetings, side events

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is set to travel to Leuven, Belgium, later this week for the sixth U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council ministerial as well as a closed-door meeting with labor and business stakeholders and a public event about the future of trans-Atlantic trade relations, according to an itinerary issued on Monday. She will be in Belgium April 4-5, her office said in her schedule . Officials are eyeing a host of outcomes for the ministerial, set to...

EU, U.S. eyeing emerging tech, semiconductor outcomes for TTC6

The European Union and the U.S. are preparing to announce progress on a slew of efforts on emerging technologies -- like artificial intelligence and 6G wireless communications systems -- and to extend their work on chips supply chains at a milestone Trade and Technology Council ministerial set for next week in Belgium, according to an EU version of a draft joint statement obtained by Inside U.S. Trade . The statement, dated March 13, outlines the conclusion of technical work across...

The EU Commission’s message to others: Work with us on CBAM, other rules

BRUSSELS -- As the European Commission nears the end of a five-year mandate that has produced a suite of sustainability policies with impacts on trade, officials here are working to assure other countries the bloc is committed to “continuous” engagement as it irons out key details about how the rules will work in practice. European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis last week highlighted the bloc’s efforts to engage with other countries as it implements policies crafted...

Pages

Not a subscriber? You can request 30 days free access to exclusive, behind-the-scenes reporting on trade policy in the Biden era.