Attorney General James Uthmeier Urges President Trump to Oppose European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Directive

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General James Uthmeier and West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey led a coalition of state attorneys general in sending a letter to President Donald J. Trump urging the Administration to oppose the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Directive, which would impose expansive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates on American companies.

“President Trump has shown tremendous leadership protecting American jobs and pushing back against foreign overreach,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “These EU requirements are nothing more than a backdoor attempt to force the radical green agenda on American companies. Without intervention, this will divert resources away from investment, job creation, and wage growth, while putting bureaucrats in Brussels in charge of U.S. business decisions.” 

In a letter sent to President Trump, Attorney General Uthmeier and his colleagues praised the administration’s leadership in bringing jobs back to the United States, restoring law and order, and dismantling ESG and DEI schemes at home. They warned, however, that Brussels is now seeking to export its climate radicalism and social engineering through international regulation, burdening American businesses with costly compliance obligations and exposing them to significant legal risk. 

The directive includes two major provisions:

• Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD): Requires companies to provide extensive “comprehensive and granular disclosures” across global value chains, exposing American businesses to massive compliance costs and potential lawsuits in U.S. courts.  
• Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD): Demands ESG and DEI be embedded into corporate operations worldwide, enforced by harsh penalties and private rights of action.

The attorneys general emphasized that such mandates would undermine U.S. sovereignty by letting European regulators dictate American economic policy, threaten jobs by disincentivizing investment in fossil fuels and traditional energy, and expose companies to crippling litigation risks, including greenwashing lawsuits from activist state attorneys general.

The letter urged President Trump to direct the U.S. Trade Representative to formally oppose the European Union’s corporate sustainability directive during ongoing negotiations, ensuring that American companies are not subject to foreign overreach. 

A copy of the letter can be downloaded here.