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'Won't Accept Unfair Taxes': Piyush Goyal Says India To Take Up EU's 'Carbon Tax' Issue With WTO

Nayan Dwivedi

Nov 08, 2023, 11:41 AM | Updated 11:41 AM IST


Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

India's Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, has conveyed the nation's strong reservations about the European Union's (EU's) recently imposed 'carbon tax' on select goods like steel, cement and aluminum.

Speaking at an event organised by the Indian Steel Association, Goyal expressed that India is "extremely concerned" about this development and is actively pursuing the matter with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as reported by Deccan Herald.

The EU's new regulation, known as the 'Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism', aims to levy an additional tax on the import of carbon-intensive products.

This tax regime, scheduled to take effect from 1 January 2026, will initially impact goods such as steel, aluminum, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity.

There are plans to extend this mechanism to cover all imports into the EU in the future.

The implementation of this mechanism is poised to affect India's exports of iron, iron ore pellets, steel and aluminum to the EU significantly, as these products constitute over a quarter of India's total exports to the region.

Minister Goyal emphasised that India has formally expressed its concerns to the EU regarding the introduction of the new tax system.

He stated, "we will always find innovative solutions but I can assure you that India will not accept unfair taxes".

Nayan Dwivedi is Staff Writer at Swarajya.


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