Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. next Tuesday, the offices of both governments said late Thursday.
While both countries’ support to Ukraine will be on the agenda, “further cooperation in the field of defence and security will also be discussed, as well as the further strengthening of the bilateral trade relationship between the Netherlands and the United States,” the Dutch statement reads.
“As strong NATO Allies and global partners, the two leaders will reaffirm our shared efforts to strengthen transatlantic security and economic prosperity,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden and Rutte “will also discuss [their] cooperation on critical technologies and shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to the American statement.
The Netherlands and the U.S. have been engaging in talks over the export of advanced chips technology to China in the last few months.
The U.S. introduced export restrictions in October, in a bid to curb China’s advanced chips capabilities, especially in the field of weapon development.
The U.S., however, needs to have the Netherlands on board as it’s the home base of European tech giant ASML, which makes machines that design and produce semiconductors, and is therefore a key player in the global chip production chain.
Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher has said that, though they share the U.S.’s security concerns, the Netherlands also has to look at its “own economic and geopolitical concerns.” China accounts for 15 percent of ASML’s total revenue.
The visit also comes amid strained trade relations between the European Union and the U.S., who are engaged in a growing trade dispute over the Biden administration’s plans to heavily subsidise investments in green industries and purchases such as American-made electric cars, which the EU sees as a protectionist measure.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will attend the discussions.
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