- April 14, 2026
- 16:30
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- April 14, 2026
- 18:00
On April 14, from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m., the Aspen Institute will host its second Online Workshop in the 2026 German-American Trade and Tech Dialogue cycle. Central to the discussion will be the current state of the transatlantic alliance and the future of the liberal international order, which—despite renewed verbal commitments to the partnership, particularly during the Munich Security Conference—remains increasingly contested. Participants will examine the trade and security nexus, including the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument as a response to the U.S. Trade Expansion Act and the use of tariffs on national security grounds, as well as the prospect of universal U.S. tariffs and their implications for European exporters. The discussion will address risks of escalation, underlying industrial policy motives, and potential avenues for de-escalation. It will also explore how transatlantic cyber cooperation can be made more practical and resilient, particularly amid U.S. concerns regarding regulatory developments such as NIS2 and Europe’s broader push for strategic autonomy. Bringing together experts from government, industry, academia, and civil society, the workshop will identify how these evolving dynamics affect security, cooperation, and Europe’s strategic positioning. It will further assess state and non-state threats, the protection of critical infrastructure, regulatory divergences, and opportunities to strengthen coordination in an increasingly complex geopolitical and technological environment.
