According to a leaked memo, the United States and the European Union want to adopt a more coordinated approach to curbing Big Tech’s expanding market power. The move is expected to be among the announcements made at a U.S.-EU Trade & Technology Council meeting on Sept. 29 in Pittsburgh on technology, climate, trade, and supply chains.
With regulators on both sides of the Atlantic attempting to limit the growing power of American tech giants such as Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O), Facebook (FB.O), Apple (AAPL.O), and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), such cooperation has become critical – and would make it harder for the US tech industry to fight new rules.
The White House announced earlier this month that the council would convene for the first time on Sept. 29 in Pittsburgh. Along with European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and the European Union’s trade leader Valdis Dombrovskis are expected to attend.
The White House, which is coordinating the meeting with other agencies, refused to comment on the document. Requests for comment from Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Google were not immediately returned.
According to the draught letter, the council comprises ten working committees for topics such as improving trade, economic relations, and shared democratic ideals. The group focused on tech company regulation will “exchange information on our respective approaches to technology platform governance, seeking convergence where feasible,” the memo says.
There are numerous areas where the two continents could work together more effectively. Google, which is facing many antitrust cases in the United States for its advertising business, is also under scrutiny in the European Union for ad technology.
“This includes, in particular, the responsibility of online intermediaries to safeguard democratic processes from the impact of their business activities. Areas of common ground… include content moderation and fair competition,” the memo said.
 The committee would focus on issues such as hate speech, algorithmic amplification, and researcher data access. According to the document, the council’s climate and cleantech section will seek trade and investment opportunities in low- and zero-carbon technology and goods. Pharmaceuticals, essential minerals, and sustainable energy will be the focus of the supply chain working group.
The council will also try to address the scarcity of semiconductor chips in a “balanced and mutually beneficial” manner, avoiding a “subsidy race.” European Union ambassadors have postponed preparations for the summit in protest of Washington’s submarine pact with Australia at the expense of France.
