EU carbon tariffs cover products, how much China exports

The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Tax Mechanism (CBAM, also known as the carbon tariff) is in the final stages of legislation, with the final text
scheduled to be finalized before the end of the year.
Regarding the products covered by CBAM, how much China exports to the EU, how much other countries export, and what is the ranking of countries' export volumes, the author checked it myself
.

The author followed two principles when querying: the product range strictly follows the CN code given in the official EU document, and uses the EU customs import data
provided by Eurostat.

The above two items are necessary to ensure the accuracy of
the data.

The draft CBAM lists the specific tariff codes of the covered products and the scope is very clear
.
Steel, for example, is not a general concept, but refers to all products under tariff numbers 72 (excluding 7202 and 7204), plus all products
under tariff numbers 7301, 7302, 730300, 7304, 7305, 7306, 7307, 7308, 7309, 7310 and 7311.
If the EU tariff number is deviated, there may be confusion between "fruit exports" and "apple exports"
.

The CBAM scheme announced by the European Commission on July 14, 2021 includes five products – steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizer and electricity
.
Among them, electricity has nothing to do with
China.
If CBAM's product range ends up with the European Commission's approach, it will only affect China to steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizers
.

These 4 products cover 37 tariff numbers
.

Specifically, steel products covered by CBAM refer to all products under tariff numbers 72 (excluding 7202 and 7204), plus all products
under tariff numbers 7301, 7302, 730300, 7304, 7305, 7306, 7307, 7308, 7309, 7310 and 7311.
Aluminium products refer to all products
under tariff numbers 7601, 7603, 7604, 7605, 7606, 7607, 7608 and 76090000.
Cement refers to all products
under tariff numbers 25231000, 25232100, 25232900 and 25239000.
Fertilizers refer to all products
under tariff numbers 28080000, 2814, 28342100, 3102 and 3105 (excluding 31056000).

Let's take a look at the trade of the above four "CBAM products" together
.

In 2021, the total trade volume of "CBAM steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizer" was the main sources of EU imports Russia, Turkey, China, Ukraine, India, the United Kingdom, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, Egypt, Taiwan, and Vietnam, which were 11.
42 billion euros, 8.
05 billion euros, 5.
64 billion euros, 5.
19 billion euros, 5.
12 billion euros, 4.
99 billion euros, 4.
91 billion euros, 2.
93 billion euros, 2.
79 billion euros, 2.
01 billion euros, respectively.
EUR 1.
97 billion and EUR 1.
92 billion
.
Among these 12 countries (regions), Norway and Switzerland are exempted by CBAM, and the remaining trade volume ranks in the top 10
after exclusion.
If CBAM's product range ultimately adopts the European Commission's scheme, China ranks third
in terms of trade volume of "CBAM products".

The chemical industry must be wary that on June 22, 2022, the European Parliament voted unanimously to approve the "first reading" text of the CBAM, which is a formal amendment to the draft legislation published by the European Commission in July 2021
.
The European Parliament's programme expands CBAM's product range by adding four products – organic chemicals, plastics, hydrogen and ammonia
.

So, what happens to the products in this "+4" scheme?

Organic chemicals covered by CBAM refer to all products under tariff number 29, plastics refer to all products under tariff number 39, hydrogen refers to products under tariff number 28041000, and ammonia refers to products
under tariff numbers 28141000 and 28142000.

Specifically, in 2021, the main sources of "CBAM organic chemistry" were China, the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea, Norway and Indonesia, with trade volumes of 14.
96 billion euros, 10.
38 billion euros, 4.
89 billion euros, 3.
57 billion euros, 2.
43 billion euros, 2.
14 billion euros, 2.
11 billion euros, 1.
66 billion euros, 1.
49 billion euros, 990 million euros and 490 million euros
respectively.
Among these 11 countries (regions), China ranks first
.

In 2021, the main sources of "CBAM plastic" were China, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and India, with trade volumes of 14.
01 billion euros, 8.
31 billion euros, 6.
42 billion euros, 3.
92 billion euros, 3.
71 billion euros, 3.
65 billion euros, 2.
38 billion euros, 2.
09 billion euros, 1.
31 billion euros, 1.
29 billion euros and 1.
13 billion euros
respectively.
China is still number one
.

China exports very little hydrogen and ammonia to Europe, ammonia is 180,000 euros, hydrogen is 0.

Please note that whether CBAM's final product range will be a European Commission's proposal or an enlarged proposal of the European Parliament has not yet been determined
.
In fact, CBAM is currently in the stage
of tripartite negotiation compromise between the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

If the CBAM's product range eventually adopts the European Parliament's "5+4" scheme, it will depend on the combined trade of the eight "CBAM products" other than electricity
.

In 2021, the total trade volume of "CBAM steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, organic chemistry, plastics, hydrogen and ammonia" was China, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey, India, South Korea, Norway, Ukraine, Japan and Saudi Arabia, which were 34.
61 billion euros, 24.
48 billion euros, 19.
91 billion euros, 15.
02 billion euros, 14.
75 billion euros, 12.
21 billion euros, 11.
14 billion euros, 8.
34 billion euros, respectively.
EUR 6.
64 billion, EUR 5.
78 billion, EUR 5.
71 billion, EUR 4.
85 billion
.
Of the 12 countries, Switzerland and Norway are exempted by the CBAM, while the rest are in the top ten
.

If CBAM's product range adopts the European Parliament's plan, China ranks first
in terms of trade volume in 2021.

The author believes that to assess the impact of EU CBAM on Chinese exports, at least five sets of data are needed: export volume, carbon emissions generated by products in the production process (distinguishing between direct and indirect emissions), free allowances for EU industries, EU carbon prices, and the impact of
CBAM on other countries.
This article only uses 2021 as a calibre to calculate the trade volume of CBAM-related products between China and Europe, and is not an assessment
of the impact of CBAM on China's exports.