The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will be officially implemented in 2026 and will gradually expand its scope

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a policy tool developed by the European Union to establish a fair carbon price for high-carbon-emitting products entering the EU market. Its primary objective is to prevent "carbon leakage" and encourage non-EU countries to adopt cleaner industrial production practices.

The system will be launched on 1 January, 2026, and EU importing enterprises are required to complete their applications by 31 March, 2026. Importers of cement, steel, aluminum, and fertilizer exceeding 50 tons in the EU, as well as all importers of electricity or hydrogen, must have submitted their applications or obtained authorization at the time of import. Importers who have not yet submitted their applications must take immediate action, otherwise they will face the risk of customs clearance being blocked, delayed, or penalized.

To prevent "emission transfer" rather than "emission reduction", the European Commission plans to expand the scope of application of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to 180 categories of downstream products that are intensive in steel and aluminum, including machinery and equipment, household appliances, and so on.

CBAM mainly imposes carbon costs on the "implicit carbon emissions" of specific industry products imported into the EU, such as steel, aluminum, cement, electricity, fertilizers, hydrogen, etc. Steel products (including steel pipes) are one of the first industries covered by CBAM.