Europe and America put a brave face on a growing economic rift

indicator for gauging the substance of international talks is whether negotiators talk about concrete. The more they do, the less they tend to achieve. The Trade and Technology Council (), a forum for the and America to co-ordinate regulation, appears to prove this admittedly cynical rule. At its latest meeting on December 5th, the White House said it had advanced “concrete action” on transatlantic co-operation by launching new “concrete initiatives”, while a joint statement with the Europeans promised yet more “concrete outcomes” and “concrete actions”. The trouble is, despite all the talk of concreteness, America and Europe now have major disagreements in the economic realm and few obvious solutions. The main point of contention is the Inflation Reduction Act, the centrepiece of the Democrats’ climate-and-industrial strategy. The , signed into law in August, features nearly $400bn in funding for energy-related projects, much of which is contingent on goods being produced in or near America. There are subsidies for automakers who buy locally made batteries, tax credits for domestic producers of renewable fuels and tax breaks for consumers who buy electric vehicles that contain enough North American components.