Kerry Says Carbon Border Adjustment Tax Under Consideration
Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry, when asked about the utility of a domestic carbon tax, said the idea is under consideration. “President [Joe] Biden, I know, is particularly interested in evaluating the carbon border adjustment mechanism, he wants to look at that and see whether that’s something that we need to deploy,” Kerry said. “Europe is already looking at that in depth and may well wind up deploying it if they don’t get satisfaction from China and other countries with respect to the transition off of coal and their effort to try to do their part in reducing emissions.”
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Kerry was speaking to Bloomberg Television April 23. Just a month ago, Kerry told a European newspaper that a European Union carbon border adjustment mechanism should be a last resort. He said such a tariff has “serious implications for economies, and for relationships, and trade.” Some scholars have said that imposing a carbon border tax without a society-wide price for carbon will not be compliant with World Trade Organization rules (see 2103170053), and free trade advocates are worried it will be used as a protectionist measure.