In the wake of the EU, London announces a “carbon tax” at the borders

The United Kingdom announced on Monday that it would introduce by 2027 a new “carbon tax” on imported carbon-intensive goods, from sectors such as metallurgy, glass or cement, in the wake of a mechanism similar provided in the European Union (EU). “Goods imported into the UK from countries with a lower or no carbon price will have to pay a tax by 2027, ensuring that foreign products face a comparable carbon price to those produced in the UK », According to a press release.

This “carbon border adjustment mechanism” will apply to carbon-intensive products in the iron, steel, aluminum, fertilizer, hydrogen, ceramics, glass sectors and cement, specifies the British government. The measure will be subject to more in-depth consultation in 2024, in particular to determine the precise list of products concerned.

This new system will work "alongside the British emissions trading system" - which has taken over from the European carbon market created in 2005 since Brexit -, the reform of which is also under study, London said. in his press release.

In the EU, a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is due to come into force in 2026, which will also require companies importing “carbon-intensive goods” from the iron and steel sectors to aluminum, cement, fertilizers and electricity, to pay a tax on the CO2 emitted during their manufacture abroad. This mechanism was born in order to maintain fair conditions of competition between European manufacturers of these products - already subject to the European carbon market - and others, in the face of the planned disappearance of free quotas in Europe.