The Council today adopted a decision authorising the Commission to open negotiations, on behalf of the EU, with the United States on a Critical Minerals Agreement (CMA) and the related negotiating directives. This agreement seeks to strengthen critical minerals supply chains and mitigate some of the negative repercussions of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on EU industry. The Critical Minerals Agreement will be key in diversifying international supply chains of critical minerals. It will also help to strengthen our cooperation...

Advances in technology affect trade and vice versa Technological change is exciting and scary, empowering us to do more with less work while fueling fears of being replaced. Although it drives economic growth and progress, those who fall behind risk losing their livelihoods. International trade has a similar impact but generates even greater anxiety. That’s because its benefits are less obvious to people than the gains from innovation, and the domestic workers dealt setbacks by trade associate their losses directly with...

The suspension of import duties, quotas and trade defence measures on Ukrainian exports to the European Union – known as the Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) – are in place for another year. This strong testament to the EU's unwavering support for Ukraine will help alleviate the difficult situation faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters because of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression. The EU is phasing out by 15 September 2023 the exceptional and temporary preventive measures adopted on 2...

I. Introduction The fourth Ministerial meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (“TTC”) took place in Luleå, Sweden, on 31 May 2023. It was co-chaired by European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, joined by European Commissioner Thierry Breton, and hosted by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. On...

A significant scaling up of both production and international trade of critical raw materials is needed to meet projected demand for the green transition and achieve global net zero CO2 emissions targets. A new policy paper on Raw Materials for the Green Transition: Production, International Trade and Export Restrictions, shows the price of many materials  – including aluminum and copper – have reached record highs, driven by the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade tensions and the continuing consequences of...

Sanctions and voluntary boycotts have forced Russia to change its international trade since its invasion of Ukraine. The country has reoriented towards the east, away from Europe. This ECB Blog post sheds light on these shifts. It is the third entry in a series about the economic effects of the war. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted the EU and its partners to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Russia, including banning exports of certain types of machinery and transport equipment to the...

Climate change is a global problem that needs global solutions. As the EU raises its own climate ambition, and as long as less stringent climate policies prevail in many non-EU countries, there is a risk of so-called ‘carbon leakage'. Carbon leakage occurs when companies based in the EU move carbon-intensive production abroad to countries where less stringent climate policies are in place than in the EU, or when EU products get replaced by more carbon-intensive imports. The EU’s Carbon Border...