Trump goes to bat for Big Oil on climate rules in EU trade talks

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🗞️ Driving the news: President Trump’s administration is leveraging current trade negotiations with the EU to pressure Europe into weakening key environmental regulations
• U.S. officials are advocating for revisions to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and methane-monitoring rules, citing lobbying efforts by major oil companies — including Exxon Mobil — who warn that these regulations could hamper U.S. energy exports 

🔭 The context: These provisions are part of the EU’s Green Deal, designed to impose stringent environmental and human-rights oversight on imports
• Energy sector groups argue the requirements — such as supply-chain emissions traceability and precise methane tracking — are technologically and economically difficult
• The Trump administration has responded with threats of 50% tariffs if the EU does not back down by a July 9 deadline

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Watered-down regulations would undermine the EU’s push for global corporate accountability and slow progress on border-adjusted climate policies
• These measures aim to prevent carbon and methane leakage, which would diminish global climate ambition
• Any diplomatic concession risks emboldening other polluting nations, potentially unraveling efforts to align trade with sustainability goals

⏭️ What's next: With the July 9 tariff deadline looming, EU leaders — including Ursula von der Leyen — are weighing concessions on non-tariff regulatory barriers and enforcing retaliatory tariffs up to €95 billion if talks falter
• The final outcome will reveal whether economic leverage will trump environmental regulation or if the EU will uphold its Green Deal through diplomatic and commercial defiance

💬 One quote: “Oil executives … have urged Trump … to quash Europe’s flagship environment rules,” writes Collin Eaton 

📈 One stat: Trump officials are threatening 50 % tariffs on EU exports if the climate-related regulations are not softened by July 9 

See on illuminem’s Data Hub™ the sustainability performance of Exxon Mobil and its peers Chevron and BP

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