U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) are among a group of lawmakers urging Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to address what they view as regulatory encroachment from the European Union.
Specifically, the lawmakers are taking issue with the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which was recently adopted by the European Union (EU). CSDDD’s implementation raises concerns about extraterritorial regulatory overreach, adverse impacts on supply chains, litigation risks, and unfeasible climate transition requirements, the lawmakers said.
“The CSDDD’s extraterritorial scope amounts to a serious breach of U.S. sovereignty and a direct threat to the global competitiveness of American companies,” Hagerty, Barr and several other lawmakers wrote in a letter to Yellen. “We are deeply concerned that the [Biden-Harris] Administration is surrendering its regulatory responsibilities to European officials, allowing them to dictate draconian social and climate policies to American companies.”
Under this directive, the lawmakers said many U.S. businesses will be forced to comply with European policies or face severe penalties.
“The EU is attempting to mitigate the relative damage of its onerous regulatory framework by forcing Americans to bear the burden as well,” the members of Congress continued. “Any policies impacting U.S. businesses should be debated and determined by the elected representatives of the American people, not overseas bureaucrats advancing their own agendas.”
The letter concludes by urging Yellen and senior Biden-Harris Administration officials to engage with their European counterparts to delay CSDDD’s implementation and repeal or substantially modify the directive.