Joe Biden’s arrival in the White House heralded a period of stability in US-EU trade relations following the turmoil of Donald Trump’s presidency. Now that detente is at serious risk of breaking down.
At issue is a landmark piece of US legislation called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes $369bn of subsidies for green technologies aimed at luring investment to the US. Brussels says the regime is damaging to the EU’s industrial base and breaches World Trade Organization rules.
The two sides have set up a joint task force to resolve their differences but officials are downbeat about the prospect of significant changes. Absent a rethink in Washington, what can the EU do to mitigate the damage?