AISI’s Dempsey Presses Case for Carbon Tariffs
06/18/2024 - American Iron and Steel Institute president and chief executive officer Kevin Dempsey said the U.S. should create carbon border tariffs on imported goods that have higher associated GHG emissions intensities than their U.S.-made counterparts.
“Carbon tariffs are critical for decarbonization,” Dempsey said Tuesday during a discussion at the 2024 Global Steel Dynamics Forum. Co-organized by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology and World Steel Dynamics, the annual conference is taking place this week in New York City.
Generally referred to as a carbon intensity tax, Dempsey told the audience that the idea is to collect an import fee on imported goods with greater emissions intensity than domestic-made goods.
He noted that the average emissions intensity for U.S.-made flat-rolled steel is 1.24 tons of CO2/ton, compared to the global average of 2.33 tons of CO2/ton. For long products, Dempsey showed the U.S. average is 0.46 tons of CO2/ton, versus a global average of 1.88 tons of CO2/ton.
Dempsey said that such a fee should be “adjustable, on a product-by-product basis.” He added that such an approach would require precise data on imported material.