cbam
5 analyses on this topic, newest first. Each one carries its figures with the source document and the date it was retrieved.
Appears in Trade Policy and Sourcing & Suppliers
Analysis
CBAM Is Moving From Goods That Are Steel to Goods That Contain It
CBAM today covers goods that are steel or aluminium. The proposed extension from 1 January 2028 covers goods that contain them, charged on the metal content under an ex-code mechanism, and it adds a material-composition reporting duty that nobody currently holds.
Two EU Charges Reach Steel and Only One Reaches Aluminium, and That Reverses the Ranking
The EU applies a carbon charge to both metals and a 50 per cent quota duty to steel alone. On Chinese goods that reverses which material looks expensive, and the crossing point is a single CIF value you can work out.
Two EU Charges Hit the Same Tonne, and Only One of Them Is Knowable Up Front
On the same tonne of Chinese steel the EU applies a carbon charge and a quota duty. One follows a published formula to the cent. The other is 50% of CIF, and at EUR 500 it is the larger of the two. Here is where they cross.
The EU Steel Quota Is Tightest Where China Has No Allocation at All
From 1 July 2026 the EU doubled the steel out-of-quota duty to 50% and cut duty-free volumes 47%. China holds named quotas in 4 of 26 categories and none in hot-rolled coil. Here is the per-tonne arithmetic.
What Chinese Steel Really Costs Under CBAM in 2026, per Tonne
The EU replaced its CBAM default-value tables retroactively on 31 July 2026, and the "CBAM factor" is read backwards by almost everyone. Here is what Chinese steel and aluminium actually cost per tonne in 2026, with every input printed.