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Iron and Steel: Carbon Emissions

Asked by David ChadwickLiberal DemocratDepartment for Business and TradeTabled Answered 8 January 2026UIN 102291

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the European Commission’s proposals for the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on the competitiveness and decarbonisation of the UK steel sector.

Answered by Chris McDonald

We are monitoring the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). As UK steel is covered by a domestic carbon price under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the sector is expected to face lower CBAM liabilities compared with goods from jurisdictions which do not incur a domestic carbon price.

The sector may still face costs of providing emissions data to EU importers to support compliance. We are engaging with the European Commission on ETS linking, to facilitate a mutual UK-EU CBAM exemption in due course.

The Government will introduce its own CBAM from January 2027 to protect against carbon leakage.

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