EU rejects US trade pressure over Chinese tariff evasion concerns
Washington has urged the EU to align its new environmental and human rights supply chain standards with the EU-US trade deal established last year.
The United States’ concern regarding the EU’s supply chain directives could significantly affect US businesses’ competitiveness in the EU market, amplifying trade tensions.
“We have been very clear and consistent on the fact that neither our rules framework nor our regulatory autonomy are up for negotiation,” stated European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta.
EU pushes back as US revives trade pressure on bloc and accuses Brussels of enabling China to evade tariffs
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The EU pushed back at renewed trade pressure from the United States on Friday, as Washington said the bloc was enabling Chinese evasion of US tariffs and stepped up calls for it to roll back flagship green rules on businesses.
Washington’s ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, called on the bloc to “align” the provisions of two landmark new laws on environmental and human rights supply chain standards with the EU-US trade deal struck last year.
“Now it’s time for the EU to deliver,” Puzder posted on X, along with a US government document detailing a long list of “concerns” with the rules.
“The United States will take any actions necessary to address unreasonable burdens on US commerce absent a solution that addresses these concerns,” the document warned.
Responding to Puzder’s message, European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said the EU continued to “exchange on both tariff and non-tariff issues” with the United States, calling the process “constructive.”
But she added: “We have been very clear and consistent on the fact that neither our rules framework nor our regulatory autonomy are up for negotiation.”
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires large companies to fix the “adverse human rights and environmental impacts” of their supply chains worldwide, while the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires them to provide information on their climate impact and emissions and steps to limit them.
“The directives’ extraterritorial reach and costly and onerous supply chain due diligence obligations will adversely impact the ability of US businesses to compete on a level playing field in the EU market,” read the US document.
The EU has already dialled back the scope of both laws under pressure from businesses both inside and outside the bloc, delaying implementation and sparing smaller firms, but the US document said that did not go far enough.
Puzder’s comments came a day after he hit out at the bloc’s carbon border tax, CBAM, which he charged was “a tariff in substance, no matter the ‘climate policy‘ label.”
Separately, the EU was among dozens of trading partners flagged in a White House report on Thursday as risks regarding “illegal transshipment” from China, where goods are sent through third countries to avoid paying sweeping levies imposed by President Donald Trump.
The report, which also targeted Mexico, Canada and Japan, vowed to tap artificial intelligence to help detect illegal practices in future.
“The EU shares the US objective of tackling customs fraud,” the commission spokesperson said in response to the accusations.
Podesta said Brussels was “engaging” with Washington to better understand the report’s “potential implications for the EU,” while noting that the document found the EU transshipment risk to be “embedded within broad legitimate trade flows.”
Additional sources • AFP