The following update is courtesy of the Hardwood Federation
On Thursday morning, the White House released a statement announcing details of the newly forged trade deal with the European Union (EU).
The three-and-a-half-page document specifies that a 15 percent import tax will be imposed on roughly 70 percent of European products entering the U.S. market. The deal also includes a non-binding commitment for the EU to procure $750 billion in U.S. produced energy and for EU companies to invest $600 billion in the U.S. Notably the document includes reference to the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Section 10 of the agreement states:
“Recognizing that production of the relevant commodities within the territory of the United States poses negligible risk to global deforestation, the European Union commits to work to address the concerns of deforestation, the European Union commits to work to address the concerns of U.S. producers and exporters regarding the EU Deforestation Regulation, with a view to avoiding undue impact on U.S.-EU trade.”
The Hardwood Federation has worked closely with the American Hardwood Export Council to provide information to the U.S. government about the hardwood industry during these negotiations. Although a framework is now established, work on the details will continue and we will continue to advocate to the administration for modifications to the EUDR that recognize the U.S. as a sustainable, non-deforestation source of hardwood logs, lumber, and products and eliminate needless barriers to export, including geolocation requirements at the micro level.