European Union trade minister and U.S. Trade Representative. Katherine Tai is holding talks in Prague today to discuss how to deal with U.S. legislation. which the EU sees as discriminating against its electric car makers.
Ministers are also reportedly looking at extending trade support for Ukraine and hope trade deals with Latin American countries continue to grow after Brazil's presidential election, the ministers said.
Since last August, non-U.S. automakers have expressed frustration with the $430 billion U.S. "Inflation Reduction Act" that aims to fight climate change and make Washington a world leader in the electric vehicle market.
U.S. law says that electric vehicles need to be installed in North America to qualify for the tax credit. The EU says this discriminates against EU-made cars and U.S. vehicles. those sold in Europe enjoy the same tax relief as European cars.
The EU and the United States have established a task force to address the issue and Katherine Tai has participated in the Prague meeting to further refine it.
"We are all on a positive track and it is very important that we work closely between the EU and the United States as strategic allies, especially in the situation we are facing now," said European Commission President Valdis Dombrovskis.
"There are also concerns related to the Inflation Reduction Act and its discriminatory provisions. In this regard we have established an EU-U.S. task force. to address these issues.”
Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela said so far there is no deadline for the negotiations but the current status of Europe cannot accept the act.
