US corporate lobbyists mounted ‘blitz’ to dilute landmark EU deforestation law, report finds
News Source
•Sat, 17 Oct 2026 11:00:31 GMT
📰 What Happened
US companies and trade groups ran a two-year campaign to weaken the EU's deforestation law, a new report says. The green group Mighty Earth found 24 US firms and industry bodies held more than 350 meetings with EU officials. Cargill, Bunge, Mondelēz and the US Soybean Export Council were among them.
The rule bans imports of beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood grown on land cleared of forest. It is due to start in December after being delayed twice. The companies say they only raised fair concerns about how the law will work.
🔍 The Backstory
The EU billed the law as the strongest forest protection rule in the world. Supporters hoped it would stop firms selling goods linked to destroyed rainforests. Since then it has been pushed back and rewritten, and some early backers say it has been watered down.
Pressure also came through Washington. Two weeks after Donald Trump met EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at a Scottish golf course in July 2025, the two sides said the US should get special treatment. Brussels said America poses "negligible risk" to forests.
🎯 Why It Matters
The law decides what food and wood products Europeans can buy, and tests whether the EU can hold big farm firms to its green promises.
US companies and trade groups ran a two-year campaign to weaken the EU's deforestation law, a new report says. The green group Mighty Earth found 24 US firms and industry bodies held more than 350 meetings with EU officials. Cargill, Bunge, Mondelēz and the US Soybean Export Council were among them.
The rule bans imports of beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood grown on land cleared of forest. It is due to start in December after being delayed twice. The companies say they only raised fair concerns about how the law will work.
The EU billed the law as the strongest forest protection rule in the world. Supporters hoped it would stop firms selling goods linked to destroyed rainforests. Since then it has been pushed back and rewritten, and some early backers say it has been watered down.
Pressure also came through Washington. Two weeks after Donald Trump met EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at a Scottish golf course in July 2025, the two sides said the US should get special treatment. Brussels said America poses "negligible risk" to forests.
The law decides what food and wood products Europeans can buy, and tests whether the EU can hold big farm firms to its green promises.