DATELINE—EUROPE-U.S.: The Missing Piece In A "Buyers Club"
We’ve been following the back-and-forth spat across the Atlantic pond between the members of the European Union and the United States over subsidies offered by the U.S. in the Inflation Reduction Act to “Made-in-America” products, especially in the electric vehicle space.
Now, there’s talk of forming a EU-U.S. so-called “buyers club” for critical materials used in future technologies. Via the Wall Street Journal (subscription):
Under the plan to form a so-called critical-minerals club, the U.S. would negotiate trade agreements focused on such minerals with allies including Japan, the EU and U.K., according to people familiar with it. Once the allies have trade agreements between themselves, they would try to reach additional agreements with such countries as Ukraine or Zambia on securing supplies of raw materials essential to batteries and other clean- energy technologies, according to the people.
And:
He said the U.S. and EU could create a common set of environmental and investment standards for critical-mineral extraction.
What we wonder, in our advocacy for workers’ Just Transition, is what provisions will be laid out for workers that ensure that whatever buying gets done, and whatever jobs result from the growth of the critical materials-related industry, takes place by setting a high bar for any transition, and, certainly, require strong union rights.
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