June 17, 2021: -On Tuesday, the United States and Europe introduce a new joint technology and trade initiative, part of a wide-reaching effort by President Joe Biden to rally European allies and challenge the increasing influence of China. The U.S. and the EU Trade and Technology Council will have three overarching goals, which include producing new global trade standards to emerge technology, promoting democratic values online, and finding ways for the U.S. and the EU to collaborate on cutting-edge research and development.

The result includes “democracies and not anyone else, not China or other autocracies, are writing the rules for trade and technology for the 21st century,” national security advisor Jake Sullivan said last week in a press conference.

On the U.S. side, the trade council will be co-chaired by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Ambassador Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade representative, said a Biden administration official briefed reporters and requested anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.

In the past, China has made significant public investments in its technology sector. It results in a digital economy and an internet controlled by the state and reflects its political values.

China is aggressive in protecting its domestic markets equally by requiring foreign companies that want to operate in China to partner with some Chinese companies and turn the intellectual property over.

“Dealing with China’s nonmarket practices, its economic abuses, and its efforts to shape the rules of the road on technology for the 21st century will be an important part of the work of this council,” said the White House official.

The Trade and Technology Council is the recent effort made by the Biden administration to leverage the combined economic might of the U.S. and Europe in competition with China.

On Saturday, Biden and G-7 members said that forming a global infrastructure initiative known as “Build Back Better for the World.” The multibillion-dollar plan is offering a “higher quality” alternative to the Belt and Road infrastructure project of China.

One pressing issue amid the EU and the United States that will not be resolved in Tuesday’s meetings is the fate of the punishing tariffs that former President Donald Trump imposed on steel and aluminum in 2018.

Whereas Biden has signaled that he is willing to lift the tariffs, and in May, trade negotiators from either side start talks that could resolve the issue by year’s end.