Trade and Technology Council - the new forum for engagement?

Apart from engaging in the World Trade Organization, countries engage in a multitude of ways on trade and technology. A recent development is the formation of joint trade and technology councils (TTC) - the EU and US formed one in 2021. The EU and India formed one in 2022.

I was curious at the agenda and progress made in the EU-US TTC. One of the working groups in the TTC is on Technology Standards. The importance of setting global standards cannot be understated. Similarly, collaborating and co-operating on setting international standards assumes significance to benefit industry. Who participates in setting standards is important as well as how open the process is to different stakeholders and businesses.

The EU-US TTC have set up a public consultation process for each of the working groups. Under the Technology Standards Working group consultation, a joint representation by the US and EU semiconductor industry on the importance of the role of the private sector in setting standards, preferring global standards to national standards and reducing regulatory divergences in their markets.

What I found striking was the following:

1. EU-US TTC had not only brought the governments together on the same platform to collaborate and co-operate, it had encouraged private players to act together in this case the semiconductor associations of the US and EU. This takes the debate beyond national interest to shared business interests. It is not only about market access but common goals. 

2. The importance of sustained stakeholder consultation using technology - a digital platform for views from any interested business in the EU and the US to add to the conversation on trade and technology co-operation between the transatlantic partners.

On the trade front, this document by the Germany based Transatlantic Business Initiative, once again received in a public consultation, captured in a very simple, straightforward way the commonalities and differences between the US and EU on issues related to the WTO. The value of public consultation from varying levels of stakeholders is invaluable for governments to craft meaningful national policy. Most governments do engage in public consultation in varying degrees. There are perspectives that add value to public policy making. A range of business interests, from small to large conglomerates, need to be incorporated while crafting national strategies - while in some cases national interest may be to take a divergent stand from domestic business in the larger interest of the consumer.