Israel-Hamas war expected to overshadow EU-US summit in Washington
The EU’s top officials will head to Washington Friday for the first official summit between the two sides in over two years and at a time when the issues seemingly continue to pile up.
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00:00 The EU`s top officials head to Washington Friday for the first official summit between
00:06 both sides in over two years.
00:09 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles
00:13 Michel were supposed to be meeting U.S. President Joe Biden in what looked like a routine trip
00:18 to deal with outstanding trade issues, among other things.
00:23 But the war between Israel and Hamas threatens to overshadow the summit, particularly after
00:28 a week of confused messaging coming out of Brussels.
00:33 I think that this topic can`t not be in some way on the agenda.
00:40 The first thing is that the EU needs to speak with one voice and then we can coordinate
00:44 and with our transatlantic partners.
00:48 Even if the conflict in the Middle East dominates discussions, it doesn`t hide the fact that
00:52 the EU and U.S. still have a lot on their own plates.
00:57 First up, steel and aluminum.
00:59 The issue has been ongoing since the Trump era after the former president slapped tariffs
01:03 on European steel and aluminum exports.
01:08 But now, in what looks like a double-pronged attack against Beijing, the EU is expected
01:12 to announce both an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese steel makers and an agreement
01:18 with the U.S. to curb the export of Chinese metals, which they say are flooding the global
01:22 market.
01:26 The solution that is being negotiated now is a so-called carbon club or an agreement
01:32 between the U.S. and the United States to basically promote the production of sustainable
01:38 sort of decarbonized steel and put tariffs on countries that don`t produce in a decarbonized
01:47 way, a.k.a., of course, China.
01:50 EU officials have also said they`re closing in on a deal on critical raw materials, minerals
01:55 used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles.
02:00 This would allow European car makers to benefit from any U.S. subsidies granted under Biden`s
02:04 so-called Inflation Reduction Act, in this case designed to promote the use of American-made
02:09 electric vehicles.
02:11 Chrysler Pictures for Euronews.
02:14 Thank you.