The Pittsburgh Statement provides a general description of the scope of the work to be undertaken by the TTC Working Group on Secure Supply Chains. It notes that, alongside the dedicated track on semiconductors, it is tasked to focus on advancing respective supply chain resilience and security of supply in key sectors for the green and digital transition and for securing the protection of our citizens. A first focus will be on clean energy, pharmaceuticals, and critical materials. In connection with these sectors, the working group seeks to: increase transparency of supply and demand; map respective existing sectoral capabilities; exchange information on policy measures and research and development priorities; and cooperate on strategies to promote supply chain resilience and diversification.

Regarding semiconductors in particular, the Statement informs that the work will initially focus on short-term supply chain issues. Cooperation on mid- and long-term strategic semiconductor issues will begin in the relevant TTC working groups ahead of the next TTC meeting. In addition, in its Annex IV, the Statement elaborates on the principles and objective of such cooperation.

In this context, in order to allow for a targeted discussion on the scope and objectives of this TTC Working Group on Secure Supply Chains, the EU invites stakeholders to participate in a dedicated outreach event on 13 December 2021, 15:30 - 18:00

The discussion will be structured around the following questions:

1. What should be the main concrete objectives towards which this working group could work in your sector?
2. What actions would you propose to reach these objectives? For example, how could transparency of supply chains be reinforced? How could he EU and the U.S. cooperate to effectively increase supply chain resilience?

Stakeholders are also invited to submit inputs, comments, and any additional questions in advance of the event by using the Futurium online platform (EU-US Trade and Technology Council / Working Group 3 Secure Supply Chains). Please note that contributions submitted via Futurium will be visible to all Futurium users.

Lead participants

• European Commission DG TRADE Acting Deputy Director General and Director for The Americas, Mr Rupert Schlegelmilch.
• European Commission DG GROW Director for Strategy and Economic Analysis, Ms Outi Slotboom.
• European Commission DG CNECT Director for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Industry, Ms Lucilla Sioli.

Practical details

• Date and time: 13 December 2021, 15:30 - 18:00
• Venue: virtual meeting via WebEx
• Registration: Please REGISTER before 9 December 2021, 17:00 CET. Attendance is limited to 2 participants per organisation. Registered participants will receive a confirmation e-mail with further information on how to connect in due course. Any change of name of the participant should be communicated no later than 13 December 2021 (day of the event), 9:00 CET to TRADE-D1-REQUEST-BOX@ec.europa.eu.

Useful information

• Pittsburgh Statement