"The European Union's Parliament approved legislation to tax imports based on the greenhouse gases emitted to make them, clearing the final hurdle before the plan becomes law and enshrines climate regulation in the rules of global trade for the first time.
Tuesday's vote caps nearly two years of negotiations on the tax, which aims to push economies to put a price on carbon-dioxide emissions while shielding the EU's manufacturers from countries that aren't regulating emissions as strictly, or at all. The tax gives credit to countries that put a price on carbon, allowing importers of goods from those countries to deduct payments made for overseas emissions from the amount owed at the EU's borders.
The tax has raised concerns in the U.S., where companies worry the plan would erect a web of red tape for companies seeking to export to Europe. It has also drawn criticism from China and parts of the developing world, where manufacturers tend to emit more carbon dioxide than their competitors in Europe and rely more on coal-fired electricity.
Governments and lawmakers in other countries are already under pressure to follow suit.
The U.K. is debating whether to introduce a carbon border tax, while Democrats in Congress proposed legislation to create one. Bipartisan support for the idea is growing in the U.S., said Kevin Dempsey, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, which represents companies such as Nucor Corp. and ArcelorMittal SA.
"The U.S. and the EU have a lot in common," said Mr. Dempsey. "The threat that we both face is steel coming from other parts of the world, China and Asia, that have much higher carbon intensity."
Tuesday's news prompted fresh calls in the U.S. for a similar tax. Producers of many different commodities argue it is difficult to compete with cheap, imported products that carry higher environmental footprints. Mike Ireland, president and CEO of the Portland Cement Association, said the U.S. having a similar levy would protect domestic producers.
The White House has urged the EU to give U.S. exporters credit for U.S. climate-change regulations, which don't set a price on carbon but instead provide incentives for clean energy. But EU officials rebuffed those arguments, saying only exporters in countries that put an explicit price on carbon dioxide can enjoy a deduction from the border tax.
The EU's legislation will at first cover imports of iron, steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, electricity and hydrogen. Companies will have to begin reporting the emissions of their imported goods starting in October, including the indirect emissions released by the electricity generation that powers overseas factories.
Importers will have to begin paying the tax in 2026. That date coincides with the phasing out of free allowances given to Europe's manufacturers under the bloc's emissions trading system.
During that period, importers will pay only for the share of emissions that European manufacturers aren't getting free. That measure is intended to treat domestic and overseas manufacturers equally, key for Europe's arguments that its border tax doesn't violate World Trade Organization rules that limit discrimination against foreign firms.
Christopher Glen, director of advocacy and public relations at the Fertilizer Institute, said the new tax could affect regional pricing and availability of notoriously volatile commodities. "This is something that seems to move us in the wrong direction," he said." [1]
The rest of producers will do the same. Lithuanian companies will pay for primitive dirty technologies and low quality work force, for supporting militaristic idiots like Landsbergis' family as our rulers.
1. World News: Bloc to Tax Imports Based on Emissions
Dalton, Matthew. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 19 Apr 2023: A.8.
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