USA, trade policy and deforestation

On 31 May 2023 has been published the report to the President “Reducing international deforestation through US government international programming, assistance, finance, investment, trade and trade promotion”in response to E.O 14072 (Stopping International Deforestation). This document provides a picture of the US policies to block the deforestation/forest degradation.

The preferential trade agreements (free trade agreement) play a key role in the enforcement of the commitment against the illegal deforestantion.

Indeed, in the “section 2: trade agreements” “(ii) Address deforestation and land conversion risk in new relevant trade agreements and seek to address such risks, where possible, in the implementation of existing trade agreements” this report states that “…The U.S. has looked to trade agreements to raise environmental standards, including those related to deforestation. Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) have included requirements for trade partners to enforce existing environmental laws and comply with multilateral environmental agreements…”

For instance, in some US trade agreements already contain more direct provisions concerning deforestation like the Environment Chapter in the United States-Peru Free Trade Promotion Agreement.

The fora considered by the US trade/environmental policy are: United Nations (UN), UN General Assembly (UNGA), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), intergovernmental political fora such as the G7 and G20, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), World Trade Organization (WTO), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and international science collaboration platforms such as the Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

Finally, the report states that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) supports enforcement of trade agreements, including under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 201528 and the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006.