The US and European Union are working towards a steel trade agreement in the face of carbon regulations and their self-imposed deadline of 31 October, Kallanish learns from monitoring the US Chamber of Commerce (CoC) report.
The EUs carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) went into effect on 1 October. It calls for upholding the carbon price regulations set under the EU’s emissions trading system. The effort seeks to ensure that EU producers are not facing competition from imports that are not subject to the carbon price regulation.
To avoid furthering a trade war between the two entities after imposition of the Trump-era Section 232 measures, the two began what they are calling Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium (EU-US GSA).
Katherine Tai, US trade representative, says the sides are working “to discourage trade in emissions-intensive steel and aluminum products that contribute to global non-market excess capacity from other countries and to ensure that domestic policies support lowering the GHG emissions intensity of these industries.”
The US lost $3.5 billion in downstream revenue as a result of the Section 232 tariffs, according to a study by the United States International Trade Commission, which also concluded that US importers bore the cost of the steel and aluminium tariffs.
Kristen DiLandro USA
