Together with Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström and Minister for Energy Ebba Busch, he will participate when TTC – the US and EU Trade and Technology Council – meets in Luleå on 31 May.
The meeting, which is part of the Swedish Presidency of the EU, will take place under the joint leadership of the US delegation headed by Antony Blinken and two of the EU Executive Vice-Presidents, Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis.
'Protectionist winds'
Among other things, Forssell hopes that it will be possible to agree on removing trade barriers and finding common standards to make it easier for companies operating in several different markets.
"Unfortunately, quite protectionist winds are blowing in the world right now, but from the Swedish side we have everything to gain from keeping trade open and rules-based," he says.
One of the most important issues for the relationship between the US and the EU right now is the IRA – the Inflation Reduction Act – which President Joe Biden got through last autumn.
Concerns of the EU
The legislative package, which includes environmental spending worth hundreds of billions of dollars, has created considerable concern within the Union that European companies will move their operations across the Atlantic to take advantage of the subsidies.
However, Johan Forssell does not predict that the IRA issue will receive any greater attention during the meeting in Luleå.
"It may come up, but this issue is discussed in so many other contexts. Therefore, I do not think it will be dominant here.