The United States does not see the EU as a rival in the transition to low-carbon energy, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said, noting that the Biden administration was looking to build supply chains across countries whose values the U.S. shares.
“We don’t want to see any trade rivalry. And we’re in discussion with our EU counterparts about how to make sure we can do this in a way that lifts all,” Granholm told the Financial Times in an interview.
The U.S. Energy Secretary sought to alleviate tensions that have recently appeared between the EU and the U.S. following the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act, which stipulated generous subsidies for many aspects of the energy transition, sparking fear in European capitals that businesses would pick the U.S. to do business in over the EU.
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This led to pledges from the Commission that the EU will do more to stimulate local investment and facilitate it with its own subsidies, despite some member states having major misgivings about the merit of throwing money at businesses to advance the energy transition.
Earlier this week, the effort to stop businesses from leaving with its green projects culminated in what was effectively a price-matching initiative: Brussels allowed member states to match subsidies offered by the U.S. administration in order to keep the business at home.
“This is quick and dirty money to match the Americans,” one of the people involved in the plan told the Financial Times.
Granholm, meanwhile, told the FT that the Biden administration was seeking to reindustrialize the U.S. and reduce its dependence on China. In that, she noted, allies would be helpful.
“We want to ‘friend-shore’ some of that — we want to have a supply chain that is robust with our allies and with countries whose values we share,” she said. “This is another reason why we’re having those discussions with our allies to make sure that we are able to proceed apace and still build up that backbone.”