To Address Climate Change While Protecting Workers, the United States Needs a Border-Adjusted Carbon Tax
An argument favoring border tax adjustments on the Council on Foreign Relations' blog refers to RFF analyses on the topic.
"Putting all of that altogether, scholars from Resources for the Future (RFF) have prepared extensive analyses demonstrating that GHG levels in products made both in the United States and abroad can be determined using well-established data and internationally agreed-upon standards. This new work is significant because it demonstrates that the 'devil in the details' that previously plagued border-adjusted carbon tax efforts can be resolved using data and methodologies that can withstand scrutiny should there be any doubt or dispute over the numbers.
Second, the RFF work sets forth a practical and efficient approach to carbon taxes by limiting the number of U.S. taxpayers subject to the tax to those at the beginning of the carbon emissions cycle...
Fourth... the RFF analysis provides the factual and analytical basis to make that required showing—that the export rebates do not exceed the amount of domestic taxes effectively paid, so providing a rebate does not result in an unfair promotion of American energy-intensive exports."
