Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th president of the United States has generated optimism about the prospects for renewing transatlantic relations after the cold front of the Trump years. As the United States moves to rekindle its partnership with the European Union, it needs to make combating the covid-19 pandemic its key focus while also facing up to global challenges like climate change and strategic competition from China. The Biden administration inherits a number of sticking points in the U.S.-EU relationship—subsidies to Boeing and Airbus, taxation of digital companies by EU member states, and U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. But new opportunities for cooperation are also opening up, especially if the two sides can balance short-term conflict management with long-term strategic priorities.
On this episode of The Zeitgeist, AICGS’ Jeff Rathke and Peter Rashish discuss with David O’Sullivan, senior counselor at Steptoe & Johnson LLP and former EU Ambassador to the United States, steps that can help the transatlantic relationship make a fresh start with the arrival of the Biden administration. How should the United States and the EU work together to reform the WTO? Can they coordinate efforts to confront Chinese economic behavior while remaining engaged with Beijing where necessary? What could a transatlantic climate policy alignment look like? And can the United States and the European Union find a common approach to Internet platform companies?

Host
Jeff Rathke, President, AICGS
Guests
David O’Sullivan, Senior Counsellor, Steptoe and Johnson LLP
Peter Rashish, Senior Fellow and Director, Geoeconomics Program