‘Transparency’ cooperation in the US, Germany and France’s inflation reduction laws

Economic ministers from France and Germany have entered into a cooperative system to demand “transparency” about subsidies for electric vehicles under the US Inflation Reduction Act.

The Korean government and media have continued to reveal the possibility of amending the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as European countries have objected to the discriminatory payment of subsidies for electric vehicles in the United States.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told a press conference with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen after meeting in Washington on the 7th that they "agreed that there should be transparency about certain subsidies so that the European Union can respond if necessary." said.

"It's a process, and in the process you go step by step," French Economy Minister Le Maire told reporters, Reuters reported.

German Economy Minister Habeck said "there was no rush to arrive at a solution to the issue of access to key raw materials". .

Speaking of the agreement, Haveck said, "it is an agreement by both sides on the need for transparency on subsidies" and that "we will create a technology group to make this transparency work."

“There can be no fair competition without full transparency about the levels of public subsidies and public tax credits granted to private companies,” Le Maire said at a news conference.

Commenting on the achievements of the Washington trilateral meeting, Minister Havek said, “The commitment of the US-EU Trade and Technology Commission (TTC) to develop common standards for green products and the commitment to help both sides of the Atlantic reduce China's dependence on minerals for batteries'. We have agreed to explore ways to create a ‘critical minerals’ club.”

“European capitals are seeking to shield American companies from the effects of rising prices and invest in new green technologies,” Reuters said. It is concerned that the bill, designed to subsidize, will undermine the competitiveness of companies in the huge North American market.”

Secretary Havek and Secretary Le Maire met one after another with US Treasury Secretary Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and White House officials, and the promise was limited to “clarification on competing green subsidies” and few details were forthcoming.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Secretary Yellen "highlighted the need to accelerate innovation and technology development and deployment on both sides of the Atlantic" to meet climate goals while discussing U.S. and European clean energy subsidy plans.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said that Secretary Raimondo, speaking at the meeting, said, "The IRA is a key tool for the United States and is the most important U.S. climate legislation to date," adding, "We applaud the TTC's efforts to increase transparency in U.S. and EU semiconductor subsidies and support supply chains. sent,” he said.

Second Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon met with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jose Fernandez in South Africa on the 7th to discuss ways to cooperate on economic security between the two countries, including the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Biden administration's IRA Act's differential payment of electric vehicle subsidies qualified Canadian and Mexican companies to benefit from many provisions, and excluded European electric vehicles and Korean electric vehicles.

<Refer to Park Jin’s ‘Reaction to Let’s Solve Well’, Cho Tae-yong’s ‘Confirmation of Willingness to Cooperate’, September 27, 2022. Electric vehicle subsidy US’free zone strategic supply’ Korea’FTA violation, dated September 2, 2022. The U.S. and France’s ‘semiconductor battery resynchronization agreement’ excludes electric vehicles, see December 2nd>