Exposé: Relentless US lobbying blitz tried to kill EUDR
Mighty Earth investigation reveals two-years of aggressive US lobbying, involving big companies, industry groups and government officials, going all the way to the White House
A new investigation by Mighty Earth has pieced together a two-year US corporate lobbying blitz aimed at delaying, derailing and severely weakening the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), bringing together major US corporations, powerful industry groups and even US government actors in a sustained campaign targeting EU policymakers.
For the first time our report Knives out: How US lobbyists tried to kill the EUDR exposes the unprecedented trans-Atlantic US lobbying blitz aimed at delaying the EUDR’s implementation timetable and ultimately pushing to severely weaken or kill off the EU’s landmark zero-deforestation law, a campaign that went all the way to President Trump.
Our analysis of EU lobbying transparency records shows the EUDR was discussed by major companies and powerful industry association representatives in at least 173 in-person meetings with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and 178 face-to face meetings with senior European Commission officials between July 2024 and July 2026.
But that is only part of the story
Mighty Earth’s scrutiny of European Commission lobby meeting records uncovered an additional 100 meetings in which the EUDR was discussed with EC officials, but which are not captured in the Transparency Register under the meeting subject matter heading. This obscured additional lobbying on EUDR only became visible by digging and trawling through the European Commission’s own meeting minutes and cross-referencing them with other public records.
The investigation identifies 24 major US companies, trade associations and industry organizations which lobbied EU institutions and/or the US federal government on the EUDR during this period.
We found US corporations and trade associations that represent major US corporations in the deforestation-risk timber, pulp and paper, biomass, palm oil, cocoa and soy sectors – such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Enviva, Mondelez International, ADM, Cargill and Bunge – were amongst the most active to lobby MEPs and senior officials at the European Commission on the EUDR over this two-year period. The most active US-based industry associations include the extremely powerful American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU), the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), US Soybean Export Council, and the Advanced Woody Biomass Alliance (AWBA, formerly US Industrial Pellet Association). Key European-based trade associations like FEDIOL, COCERAL or FEFAC also amplified US corporate concerns.
Transatlantic pressure
Mighty Earth also found evidence of high-level US corporate engagement with the US Congress, US Department of Agriculture, the Office of the US Trade Representative, the White House, and the US Mission to the EU, based in Brussels. In several cases, concerns raised by US timber, pulp and paper and soy interests were closely reflected in representations made by US government officials to their European counterparts.
Even President Donald Trump was directly lobbied to kill off the “unfair and burdensome” EUDR by Representative Austin Scott (Republican, Georgia) at a roundtable meeting on American agriculture held at the White House in December 2025. At the conclusion of that meeting, President Trump’s voiced his opposition to the EUDR, saying: “You give me a couple of paragraphs. That’s all. We don’t have to do a lengthy study and I’ll get that changed fast. OK?”
Isabel Fernandez, Senior Advisor for Mighty Earth, said:
“The knives came out in the most hostile way by US actors in a lobbying blitz to kill off the world’s first, gold-standard legislation to keep forests standing. The attacks were based on flawed arguments about the negligible US deforestation risk and unwarranted claims of inflation for EU citizens.”
“Our analysis found a relentless and aggressive campaign by major US businesses, trade bodies and US government officials, going all the way to President Trump, who offered to personally intervene, to further pressure EU policymakers.”
“Some of the US companies lobbying the EU, include the most egregious forest destroyers who are still linked to the illegal clearing of forests for commodities, such as soy, that make their way into European markets. We hope that will all change when the EUDR comes into effect in December.”
Twice-delayed, the EUDR is due to apply from 30 December 2026. It covers cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood products and requires companies trading these commodities with the EU to conduct supply chain due diligence and provide farm-level geolocation data to demonstrate that products are not linked to deforestation or forest degradation.
Mighty Earth’s new investigation raises questions about the role of EU institutions in preventing high-deforestation-risk industries from undermining environmental legislation.
What Mighty Earth is calling for:
- Greater EU lobbying transparency to see who is seeking to influence EU legislation, on whose behalf, and with what demands
- EU policymakers to ensure a much more balanced engagement with civil society organizations working to protect forests and the public interest.
Ends
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Carole Mitchell, Global Director of Communications
Carole@mightyearth.org
About Mighty Earth Mighty Earth is a global advocacy organization working to defend a living planet. Our goal is to protect Nature and secure a climate that allows life to flourish. We are obsessed with impact, and our team has achieved transformative change by persuading leading industries to dramatically reduce deforestation and climate pollution throughout their global supply chains in palm oil, rubber, cocoa, and animal feed, while improving livelihoods for Indigenous and local communities across the tropics.
