G7 Talks Export Controls, Inbound-Outbound Investment Screening

Trade ministers from the U.S., the EU, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, Japan and the U.K. said they are working together to ensure that economic coercion and attempts to weaponize economic dependencies fail, and are developing new tools to do so.

In a statement issued at the end of their two-day meeting this week in Italy, the Group of 7 ministers also said they are looking for potential gaps in the dual-use technology protection system, adding: "We will ensure that our tools are sufficiently flexible to keep pace with the rapid development of new technologies while avoiding undue restrictions on international trade and investment."

"We will also work, as appropriate, with our partners to further develop the understanding of how export controls can be implemented quickly and in an assured manner to protect national and international security," they wrote, according to an unofficial translation.

They said they want to have effective foreign investment screening, and "we believe that appropriate measures designed to address risks from outbound investments could be important to complement existing tools of targeted controls on exports and inbound investments. We will continue to engage with and provide clarity to the private sector regarding these common and urgent goals."