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The European Commission on Thursday rejected a U.S. request for environmental regulations that the U.S. government considers too restrictive for its companies.
“Our laws and European regulators are not up for debate,” European Commission deputy spokesperson Olof Gil said, making it clear that the EU had no intention of rolling back its powers to adopt legislation.
This latest effort to push back against US demands comes after EU officials confirmed to Euronews that the US government sent a letter to the European Commission this week asking it to exempt US companies from EU law on corporate due diligence (CSDDD in Brussels jargon).
A landmark EU corporate supply chain law adopted last year requires companies to check their supply chains for unsafe environmental and labor practices.
The main U.S. business lobby, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also attacked Washington this week in a document published online on Wednesday, calling on the EU to abolish the doctrine of extraterritoriality, which puts European and foreign companies on equal footing under these regulatory requirements.
βThe current design (of the Directive) has the potential to act as a de facto non-tariff barrier and complicate transatlantic international trade negotiations, given that third country exporters face obligations that they were not involved in forming,β the document says.
βTemporary Stabilization of the Turnberry Agreementβ
Since US President Donald Trump returned to power, US pressure on EU legislation on both digital and climate change issues has been relentless, despite the EU and US signing a trade deal aimed at reducing transatlantic tensions in July.
According to a joint statement released a few weeks after the Turnberry Agreement, the EU pledged to pay a 15% tariff on exports to the United States. However, one of the provisions also refers to European law on corporate due diligence.
“The European Union is committed to working to address the US concerns regarding the imposition of CSDDD requirements on companies from non-EU countries with associated high-quality regulations,” the joint statement said.
“The Turnberry agreement was only a temporary stabilizing step,” Elvia Fabbri, an expert at the Jacques Delors Institute, told Euronews.
“It would not be surprising to see Mr. Trump hit back at a series of provocations. At least we now have a channel for dialogue, but Mr. Trump will be willing to use coercive force if necessary. European countries will have to decide what their red lines are.”
Under pressure from reporters, the European Commission on Thursday remained vague about the future of the legislation mentioned in the trade deal, reiterating its focus on implementing the deal.
This week’s US demands have increased pressure on the EU as trade negotiations continue.
The two administrations have begun talks on steel, which is still subject to the U.S.’s 50% tariff, and the European Commission also hopes to negotiate certain exemptions from the U.S.’s 15% tariff, such as wine and spirits, among others, where France, Spain and Italy have been active in lowering U.S. tariffs.