The EU-US Trade and Technology Council serves as a forum for the United States and European Union to coordinate approaches to key global trade, economic, and technology issues and deepen transatlantic trade and economic relations based on these shared values. It was established during the EU-US Summit on 15 June 2021 in Brussels.
An offshoot of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council is the US-EU Trade and Labor Dialogue (TALD). TALD is a tripartite dialogue between representatives of business and workers’ organizations and government aimed to develop policies and transatlantic alignment on key labour concerns. It was set up at the second Trade and Technology Council on 16 May 2022 to facilitate the consultation of social partners on transatlantic trade and labour issues, such as how workers and employers can make successful digital and green transitions and how the EU and the US can remain globally competitive and achieve broad and inclusive prosperity.
The first meeting took place in September 2022. It discussed topics proposed by EU and US social partners, including the impacts of digital trade on transatlantic workforces, measures to alleviate current high inflationary pressures, and how to ensure that such measures foster transatlantic trade.
A first output of the TALD has been the joint social partners' recommendations, adopted on 31 May 2023, which spell out what the EU and the US can do jointly to combat forced labour worldwide. These recommendations include deploying various tools, including trade policy, and supporting social partners' capacity building in partner countries worldwide.
The latest meeting, held on 25 September 2024, focused on ways to eradicate forced labour from supply chains and ensure a successful, just, and inclusive green transition.