EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday the bloc must act to address "distortions" created by Washington's $430-billion plan to spur climate-friendly technologies in the United States.

EU countries have poured criticism on Washington's landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), seeing it as anti-competitive and a threat to European jobs, especially in the energy and auto sectors.

The bloc must "take action to rebalance the playing field where the IRA or other measures create distortions", von der Leyen said in a speech at the College of Europe in the Belgian city of Bruges.

The act, designed to accelerate the US transition to a low-carbon economy, contains around $370 billion in subsidies for green energy as well as tax cuts for US-made electric cars and batteries.

Von der Leyen said the EU had to work with the US "to address some of the most concerning aspects of the law".

But she said that Brussels must also "adjust" its own rules to facilitate public investment in the environmental transition and "re-assess the need for further European funding of the transition".

French President Emmanuel Macron seized an opportunity on a state visit to Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden last week to air deep grievances over US-EU trade.

The White House touts the IRA as a groundbreaking effort to reignite US manufacturing and promote renewable technologies.

Commenting on the issue Sunday, French minister delegate for industry, Roland Lescure noted in a broadcast interview that "competition must be strong and fair -- we must coordinate to ensure we are on a level playing field.

Lescure added that US subsidies were distributed "a little more swiftly and effectively than ours."

By way of example, he said: "For an electric vehicle in the United States you have a $7,000 subsidy but it has to be American down to the circuitry.

"In France, you have 6,000 or 7,000 euros according to your wage and the vehicle can come from China."

Related Links
Global Trade News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

EU chief heads to China amid protest crackdown
Brussels (AFP) Nov 29, 2022
EU chief Charles Michel set off for Beijing on Tuesday, maintaining plans to meet President Xi Jinping despite the turmoil of large-scale protests in major Chinese cities against Covid lockdowns. Earlier in the day, China's top security body, the ruling Communist Party's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, had called for a "crackdown" on the protests. But Michel, president of the European Council that represents the 27 EU member state governments, stood by his plan to urge Xi to use ... read more