
The European Carbon Border Adjustment Mecanism: Concerns and Possible Impacts
Nieuws
10-09-2025
Amir Moradi
From 2026, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will impose tariffs on carbon-intensive imports. While aiming to curb carbon leakage, it raises concerns over fairness, trade tensions, and impacts on developing economies.
After the transitional phase of 2023-2025, the European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will impose a carbon tariff on imported carbon-intensive goods on 1 January 2026. The CBAM aims to mitigate the persistent challenge of “carbon leakage” and create a level playing field by harmonizing carbon pricing between domestically produced and imported goods, including iron and steel, cement, chemical fertilizers, aluminum, electricity, and hydrogen and in certain precursor sectors. The CBAM also intends to enhance awareness of carbon reduction efforts among countries (Lim et al., 2021) and support domestic production and competitiveness within the EU.
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