Bipartisan Letter Asks USTR to Ask EU to Spare US Paper Exporters
A large group of House members, including some of the most powerful Republicans in the chamber, are asking the U.S. trade representative to tell the EU to designate the U.S. as a "low-risk" country under its new deforestation-free regulation. Exporters of wood products must be in compliance with the law beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
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The letter, made public Oct. 3, was led by House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee member Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., who was joined by the committee's chairman, trade subcommittee chairman, majority leader Steve Scalise and 63 other House members, including seven Democrats.
They wrote: "The United States does not have a deforestation problem. The industry needs your engagement with the EC and EU member states to insist upon EUDR implementation that focuses on countries in which illegal deforestation is occurring, and more accurately aligns regulatory and documentation requirements with the U.S. supply chain and production practices."
They noted that the forested acreage in the U.S. has increased by 18 million acres between 1990 and 2020.
The EU regulation is onerous, the letter says, especially the traceability requirement, because 42% of wood fiber used by U.S. pulp and paper mills comes from wood chips, sawmill manufacturing residue and forest residuals. "These wood sources lose their identity during the complex fiber blending that occurs before and after delivery to the mills, making it impossible to trace them back to an indivdual forest plot," they wrote.