SUMMARY

• Top officials from Washington and the EU to address China's non-market practices at the fourth EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council meeting in Lulea, Sweden.
• The power duo aims to align export controls on sensitive items, including semiconductors, and tackle economic coercion.
• Amidst the strategic rivalry, potential cooperation in China's medical device sector is being explored.

Chill out and grab a seat, we're heading into the wild world of international politics and tech. The big players in the game, Washington and the EU, are about to join forces. The aim? Tackle the mounting concerns surrounding China's non-market practices and align their export controls on hot commodities like semiconductors.

Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, is set to rendezvous with European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and other high-ranking officials in the picturesque setting of Lulea, Sweden. They'll be hashing things out at the fourth EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meet-up, a happening affair scheduled for May 30-31.

In a draft statement sneakily seen by Reuters, it seems the power duo is gearing up to face non-market practices and economic coercion head-on. They're planning regular gabfests to halt the outflow of their companies' knowledge supporting tech of strategic rivals - a veiled nod to our pals in China.

The statement, which only gives China a couple of shout-outs and could yet undergo a makeover before the meeting, also notes they'll harmonize export controls on "sensitive items." We're talking goods with potential military use, and of course, those all-important semiconductors.

Brussels, playing the diplomatic card, views China as a partner in some arenas, an economic rival, and a strategic adversary. Recognizing the need to get in step with a more hawkish U.S., the EU plans to tweak its China policy. It's not all confrontation, though. They're also eyeing up the medical devices sector in China and are in the early stages of contemplating actions to address non-market policies and practices.

Lastly, they're joining forces to resist foreign misinformation manipulation, including, as they put it, "China's amplification of Russian disinformation narratives about the war" in Ukraine. Both sides are also committed to tag-teaming with the G7 to counteract economic coercion, like China's alleged trade restrictions on EU member Lithuania.

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