The UK Government has today announced its plans to introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) from 2027 – a year after the EU brings in an equivalent mechanism in 2026. The move is designed to protect businesses from cheaper imports of products like steel, iron, aluminum, ceramics and glass from heavy polluting exporting nations.
Community Union’s Assistant General Secretary Alasdair McDiarmid said:
“Whilst we welcome the government’s overdue acknowledgement for the need for a CBAM, it’s puzzling and alarming that they’ve chosen to delay this until 2027 – a whole year after the EU introduce their equivalent legislation. This will result in dirty steel imports from heavy-polluting countries being diverted from the EU to the UK for a year. It will represent a hugely damaging blow to our domestic steel sector, with a threat to jobs across the country. At a time when we need government to stand with our UK steel industry – including through supporting it to decarbonise – this Conservative government seems all too willing to shrug its shoulders and give overseas competitors a head start.”
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