By Nandita Bose and David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States and the European Union hope to discuss chip shortages, artificial intelligence and tech competition issues during the first Trade and Tech Council meeting this week, senior U.S. administration officials said on Monday.

On Thursday, Reuters was first to report https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-us-eu-look-work-more-closely-regulating-big-tech-summit-2021-09-23 the actions the United States and the European Union are planning to announce from the first TTC meeting, such as taking a more unified approach to limit the growing market power of Big Tech.

The White House made public an announcement earlier in the month that the council would meet its first meeting on Sept. 29, at Pittsburgh. The U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, along with Margrethe Vestager (European Commissioner for Competition), are all scheduled to attend the meeting.

On Sunday, EU’s trade and digital chiefs said https://www.reuters.com/world/us/eu-says-us-trade-tech-council-boost-its-clout-set-rules-21st-century-2021-09-26 the council would give Europe more clout and set standards and rules for the 21st century.

We, as an administration, believe in strong anti-competition regulations. A senior administration official confirmed that the United States believes in strong pro-competition regulation and said they were open to opportunities for cooperation with the European Union.

According to administration officials, the United States discussed with European counterparts the issues and suggestions they had around the Digital Markets Act (and the Digital Services Act) – European Union legislative proposals that provide a regulatory framework for the sector.

Computer and Communications Industry Association, a U.S.-based trade group for tech industry (CCIA), stated that most attempts to regulate tech have been made in the United States and only a few European companies.

Christian Borggreen (Vice President and Head of CCIA’s Brussels Office) stated that if Europeans can convince the Americans to do the same thing or say the exact same things, it would be a huge win for them.

The powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the TTC’s actions should “avoid policies and regulatory measures that target businesses headquartered in the other party — explicitly or implicitly — through law or regulation.”

The officials stated that the priority of the panel will be to address the severe chip shortage that is affecting U.S. companies, including automakers.

They said that the panel will examine how artificial intelligence affects international trade and will conduct a joint study to determine how it can be improved privacy protections.

Officials from the U.S. Administration also stated that U.S. and EU negotiations on aluminum and steel tariffs were moving on a separate track to the Trade and Technology Council process. They hope to have guidance by the end the year.