Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump
U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Pazder called on the European Union to “align” the provisions of two landmark new laws on environmental and human rights standards in supply chains with the EU-U.S. trade agreement concluded last year.
“Now is the time for the EU to fulfill its commitments,” Pazder wrote on X, along with a U.S. government document detailing a list of “concerns” regarding the new rules.
“If these concerns are not addressed, the United States will take whatever steps are necessary to remove unjustified barriers to U.S. trade,” Euronews quoted the document as saying.
Responding to Pazder’s statement, European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said that the EU continues to engage with the U.S. in “discussions on tariff and non-tariff issues,” describing the process as “constructive.”
However, she added: “We have made it abundantly clear and consistently emphasized that neither our legal framework nor our regulatory autonomy is up for negotiation.”
The U.S. Opposes Environmental and Sustainable Development Requirements
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires large companies to address “adverse impacts on human rights and the environment” throughout their global supply chains, while the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires them to disclose data on climate impact and emissions, as well as measures to reduce them.
“The extraterritorial scope of these directives and the costly, burdensome supply chain verification requirements will negatively impact the ability of U.S. companies to compete on an equal footing in the EU market,” the U.S. document states.
Both within and outside the EU, the bloc has already scaled back the scope of both laws by delaying their entry into force and exempting smaller companies from the requirements; however, as the U.S. document notes, this has proven insufficient.
Pazder’s remarks came a day after he criticized the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), stating that it is “essentially a tariff, no matter how much they call it ‘climate policy.’”
EU Among U.S.‘High-Risk’ Partners Due to China
Furthermore, in a White House report published on Thursday, the EU was listed among the “risky” trading partners in connection with the “illegal transshipment” of goods from China, where products are routed through third countries to avoid the sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
The document, which also mentions Mexico, Canada, and Japan, states the intention to use artificial intelligence technologies to detect illegal schemes in the future.
“The EU shares the U.S. goal of combating customs fraud,” a Commission spokesperson said in response to the allegations.
According to Podesta, Brussels is “engaged in dialogue” with Washington to better understand the “possible implications for the EU” of this report, while noting that the document acknowledges the risk of transshipment of goods through the EU as “part of broad, legitimate trade flows.”
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