Border Adjustments
Border adjustments, also known as border tax adjustments or border carbon adjustments, are taxes on imports and rebates on exports that account for variance in carbon pricing policies across different countries. RFF scholars are studying the design of border adjustments, their implementation costs, and their impacts on public policy questions, including their impact on possible leakage of economic activities away from countries with carbon pricing policies.
Pricing Carbon at the Border
Read a summary of recent scholarship on border adjustments and its application to policy questions being addressed in the European Union.
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Border Adjustments for a US Greenhouse Gas Tax
Explore a framework for a US upstream greenhouse gas tax with WTO-compliant border adjustments.
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Solving a Climate Policy Problem with Smart Design
Understand how WTO-compliant border adjustment could solve climate policy competitiveness issues.
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Resources Radio — Aug 4, 2020
The Environmental Appeal of Green Steel, with Chris Bataille
Chris Bataille discusses the environmental impact of steel production and opportunities for the industry to expand its sustainability efforts.
Issue Brief — Apr 20, 2016
Carbon Taxes, Trade, and Border Tax Adjustments
The need to address competitiveness in forging support for US climate legislation adds further challenges to an already complex process to avoid sparking an international backlash that could jeopardize cooperation on both trade and climate change.
Resources Articles — Mar 22, 2013
Ensuring Competitiveness under a US Carbon Tax
As policymakers express renewed interest in a carbon tax, Carolyn Fischer, Richard Morgenstern, and Nathan Richardson weigh three options for preve...
Report — Oct 23, 2020
Framework Proposal for a US Upstream GHG Tax with WTO-Compliant Border Adjustments: 2020 Update
The report provides a significant update to the original Framework proposal. Its provisions to assure WTO-compatibility also underscore challenges of designing border tax adjustments (BTAs) to be an element of recent US legislative proposals and similar efforts in the European Union.
Data Tool — Oct 1, 2020
Carbon Pricing Bill Tracker
Compare bills introduced in the 116th Congress that would implement a price on carbon dioxide emissions
Journal Article — Apr 30, 2020
Pricing Carbon at the Border: Key Questions for the EU
Pricing carbon at the border by introducing border adjustments is a tool for addressing carbon leakage. In this article, Droege and Fischer summarize some recent reviews of the scholarship on border adjustments and its application in the EU.
Workshop/Seminar — Oct 27, 2015
Addressing Competitiveness Concerns in a Carbon Tax: What Are the Options?
This workshop focused on trade, competitiveness, and possible policy approaches, featuring the presentation and discussion of four new papers.
Workshop/Seminar — Nov 14, 2012
Market-based Emissions Regulation and Industry Dynamics
An RFF academic seminar on Market-based Emissions Regulation and Industry Dynamics.
Workshop/Seminar — Sep 5, 2012
The Role of Border Measures in Unilateral Climate Policy
Panelists at this First Wednesday Seminar highlighted recent research on the efficiency and distributional impacts of border measures.
Press Release — Nov 12, 2019
New Episode of Resources Radio: “Carbon Pricing Proposals in Today's Congress, with Marc Hafstead”
Marc Hafstead offers insight on the numerous carbon pricing proposals that have been introduced in the US Congress.
Press Release — Feb 25, 2019
How to Achieve Fairness on the Carbon Reduction Field
a new study has been published by the Oxford University Press Review of Environmental Economics and Policy that addresses this issue directly by presenting an in-depth analysis of utilizing a border carbon adjustments.
Media Highlight — May 22, 2017
California’s Carbon Border Wall
The Energy Institute at Haas blog links to a review by RFF's Dallas Burtraw of California's New Cap-and-Trade proposal, which would add a border adjustment mechanism.
Common Resources — Aug 12, 2009
Climate Bill Success Can Equal Treaty Success, Even With Border Measures
President Obama and leaders of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have spoken out against incorporating border adjustment measures in U.S.
Common Resources — Oct 30, 2018
Determining WTO-Compliant Border Tax Adjustments for 35 Energy-Intense, Trade-Exposed Industries
New industry-specific analysis complements our proposed framework for developing WTO-compliant export rebates and import charges for 35 industrial ...
Common Resources — Mar 15, 2018
Solution to a Vexing Climate Policy Problem: WTO-Compliant Border Adjustments
Politically acceptable US climate legislation will require border adjustments. A new framework describes a WTO-compatible approach to manage export...