Mighty Earth welcomes US lawmakers’ appeal for EU to “hold the line” on EUDR
In a forceful letter to European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, 32 members of the US House of Representatives urge no further delay to the EUDR and caution against classifying the US as “no risk” for deforestation
Link to letter here
Thirty-two US lawmakers have written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, outlining that they “staunchly oppose the Trump administration’s attempts to weaken the EUDR” and the push for a “no risk” classification for the US. They urge President von der Leyen to “hold the line” and implement the EUDR without further delays or watering down the legislation.
The appeal comes a month after a delegation from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) embarked on a lobbying tour of European capitals to persuade EU member states that the US should be classified as a ‘no risk’ country for deforestation. However, recent UN data shows the United States responsible for 120,000 hectares of forest loss per year over the past decade. The US lawmakers’ letter points out a ‘no risk’ classification would “encourage forest loss and degradation” and disadvantage American companies that have invested in being EUDR-ready and are “primed for success.”
In the letter initiated by US Representative Lloyd Doggett, the congressmen and women point out that with forest protections being rolled back in the United States, the Trump administration is not a “credible negotiator” on the EUDR.
Environmental groups, which have long campaigned for the landmark forest protection legislation, have welcomed the timely intervention by US lawmakers.
Isabel Fernandez, Senior Advisor for Mighty Earth, said:
“This is a crucial intervention in support of the EUDR by US Representatives. An area of forest bigger than the city of Los Angeles was destroyed in the US each year over the past decade and more will be razed as protected lands and forests are opened up by the Trump administration. This renders the US government’s push for ‘no risk’ classification under the EUDR null and void.”
“Any such move would also disadvantage the American producers who are EUDR compliant and ready for the legislation when it comes into force at the end of this year.”
“We’re in a battle to save the world’s forests and the US lawmakers make that point in their letter to Ursula von der Leyen. We hope she takes that message on board that the EU must hold the line and not bow to undue pressure from the Trump administration.”
Jennifer Skene, Global Forest Policy Director at NRDC said:
“These U.S. policymakers understand that the economic, environmental, and social benefits of the EUDR reverberate around the world, including in the United States. The Trump administration’s push for carveouts and exceptions, just like its designs around gifting public lands to logging interests, is an effort to hold the world back from the safe, sustainable supply chains we’ve now seen are possible. The EUDR has already helped open up that better future–we need the EU to stand strong, despite the Trump administration’s pressure and threats.”
Ends
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Carole Mitchell | Global Director of Communications
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+44 7917 105000
Isabel Fernandez Cruz | Senior Advisor for Spain
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+34 675 510 933
Andrew Scibetta | NRDC, Senior Public Affairs Manager
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202-289-2421
Notes to editor:
Please see briefing doc here on background to the story
In early March 2026, senior USDA officials conducted a five-city tour of EU capitals – Madrid, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Brussels – explicitly timed to influence the April review of the EUDR. Their central demands were: a new “negligible risk” (no risk) classification for the US that would dramatically reduce compliance requirements; and revision of the 70,000-hectare annual deforestation threshold that could affect the US’s low-risk status, which they want replaced with a relative rather than absolute measure, citing wildfires as a distorting factor. Washington estimates the rules affect around €7.8 billion in annual US exports. Officials signalled that if their concerns were not addressed, the US would “look at all options” – a thinly veiled reference to retaliatory trade measures within the broader US-EU trade negotiation framework.
The US argument rests on the assertion that it poses negligible deforestation risk, which is contested by recent UN data. The wildfire framing is also wrong: the EUDR’s deforestation definition covers agricultural land conversion, not fire-related loss, but the conflation muddies the public argument.
Trade threats: during their recent tour of the EU, USDA representatives stated that EU risks losing U.S. soy imports under the new EUDR rules.
This trade threat does not hold up since the U.S. has already lost substantial Chinese market share to Brazil following the 2018-19 trade war, making the EU more strategically valuable to American exporters. There is no obvious overflow market that could absorb redirected EU-bound volumes at equivalent price. A commercial retreat from the EU market would put downward pressure on U.S. prices at a moment of existing income stress for American farmers – meaning the threat, if carried through, damages U.S. agricultural interests as much as European ones.
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. www.mightyearth.org
About NRDC
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd). www.nrdc.org
