Analysis of the impact of the EU carbon tariff trial operation on the export of chemical and plastic products in October

From October 1, the EU Carbon Border Regulation Mechanism (CBAM) will be in trial operation, with a transition period until the end of 2025, and gradually full implementation from 2026 to 2034. According to CBAM, the EU will impose additional carbon border adjustment charges, known as "carbon tariffs", on certain products imported from abroad, such as cement, aluminum, fertilizer and steel.

On September 14, at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce of China, some media mentioned that although the EU side said that the purpose of the carbon border adjustment mechanism is to deal with the global climate problem, some analysts believe that the EU's move is to improve the competitiveness of its products. On the fairness of carbon tariffs, there has been a big dispute among international and EU industry organizations. First, the most-favoured-nation treatment principle of the World Trade Organization (WTO) proposes that the same products imported from different countries should not be discriminated against, while the national treatment principle requires that the same products imported and domestically produced should not be treated differently. However, EU CBAM obviously "discriminates" products from the perspective of carbon emissions; Second, according to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" in international climate governance, different countries should bear different degrees of responsibility for carbon emission reduction according to their actual conditions, but the EU CBAM transfers the cost of carbon emission reduction within the EU to developing countries in a disguised way. It can be predicted that the implementation of EU CBAM will still face multiple resistance in the future.