Government urged to align with EU on carbon border tax

The UK Government has announced that it will implement a carbon levy on imported goods by 2027, to ensure that products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced in the UK.

The UK Trade and Business Commission called for the introduction of a carbon border levy in November following an evidence gathering visit to aggregate giant Cemex.

The Commission also called on the Government to align all UK carbon pricing schemes with the EU’s. ‘Maintaining regulatory alignment with the EU where beneficial” is one of the Commission’s key recommendations, outlined in their report Trading our way to prosperity published in May this year.

Tom Brufatto, Director of Policy for the UKTBC said,

“While we welcome the introduction of a carbon border tax as a crucial step towards achieving the UK’s Net Zero targets, without alignment with our closest neighbours in the EU, the Government risks putting UK-based firms at a competitive disadvantage by duplicating costly admin. 

“We therefore urge the Government to go further and align the UK carbon pricing schemes with the EU’s.”