The EU approved an antideforestation law. The US paper lobby sought to weaken it

The American Forest & Paper Association has spent nearly $11 million lobbying since 2023 to weaken the EU's incoming deforestation law, which requires companies to prove their wood and paper products did not come from degraded or deforested land. The trade group, representing Procter & Gamble and International Paper among others, has met repeatedly with Congress and federal agencies, who then carried the industry's concerns to European capitals.

US officials including EU ambassador Andrew Puzder and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have pushed for exemptions and delays, with Puzder posting on social media that American producers ‘don't contribute to deforestation’ and shouldn't face geolocation requirements. Republican lawmakers who received AF&PA campaign donations, including Senators Boozman and Cotton, have written letters echoing the industry's demands, while a European negotiator confirmed US officials have actively worked to water down the regulation in Brussels.

At issue is the law's expansion beyond deforestation to include forest degradation, a category that captures practices more common in North American logging than the clear-cutting typically associated with tropical deforestation. Canadian, Australian, Japanese, and New Zealand industry groups have joined the campaign, while the $300 billion US forest products industry awaits December implementation.

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