America's Democrats Propose a Border Tax Based on Countries’ Greenhouse Gas Emissions

"History will look back at the first 150 years of the Industrial Age as the time when businesses got away with polluting the earth at no cost. That era must end.

 The decision to package the proposals in a budget reconciliation bill would allow Democrats in the sharply divided Congress to pass the measure without any Republican votes.

A border tax is typically designed to even out the burden for a nation that has imposed a tax or price on carbon dioxide emissions. Companies abroad that want to sell iron, steel, aluminum or other commodities to the United States would be required to pay a price for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit in making their products, which would erase any competitive advantage. The hope is that it will encourage other countries to also price carbon and drive down emissions.

It also is considered a way to prevent American companies whose manufacturing processes emit heavy amounts of carbon pollution from relocating to countries with looser environmental rules, a phenomenon known as leakage.
Under the Democratic proposal, a tariff starting in 2024 would apply to roughly 12 percent of imports coming into the United States. It would cover petroleum, natural gas and coal as well as products that have a large carbon footprint like aluminum, steel, iron and cement. The list of covered goods could expand as the United States improves methods of calculating the carbon intensity of different products.
It is estimated that it will raise between $5 billion and $16 billion annually, aides to the lawmakers said.

Mr. Biden has pledged to cut U.S. emissions roughly in half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The United States, however, does not tax industries for the carbon they produce. Political analysts say it is unlikely the Congress will enact a carbon tax for domestic manufacturers and utilities in the near future.
Instead, the plan calls for federal agencies to calculate the environmental cost incurred from complying with “any federal, state, regional or local law, regulation, policy or program” designed to reduce emissions.
That could refer to things like the regional cap-and-trade systems that 13 states have adopted; state renewable fuel or electricity standards that promote clean energy use; or even the burden of complying with federal regulations under the Clean Air Act."