An online platform would be set up within a week to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adapt to the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), the Ministry of Environment (MOENV) said yesterday.
The EU is requiring foreign manufacturers to pay the same carbon emissions price as local EU manufacturers, thereby balancing the costs between domestic and overseas manufacturers, and promoting carbon reduction across the globe.
Taiwan ranked 13th among the top 20 countries exporting CBAM goods to the EU during the transitional period from Oct. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31 last year, the ministry said, citing data from the European Commission.
Photo courtesy of China Steel Corp
Taiwanese CBAM goods imported by the EU totaled 3.74 million tonnes within that period, most of which were steel products such as screws, fasteners, stainless steel or carbon steel, it said, adding that there are about 2,600 Taiwanese SMEs producing such goods.
Climate Change Administration Director-General Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀) yesterday said the EU’s CBAM was enforced on Jan. 1 and the payments for CBAM certificates are expected to be made in September next year.
The EU allows importers whose annual total CBAM imports are less than 50 tonnes to be exempted from payments, but the weight of CBAM goods must collectively be declared by EU-based importers, she said.
Information from the Taxation and Customs Union showed that only EU importers or their customs representatives could apply to become CBAM declarants for emissions embedded in their imports, as well as purchase and submit CBAM certificates.
That means Taiwanese manufacturers might have to bear the cost of CBAM payments, even though the annual volume of their CBAM goods exported to the EU totals less than 50 tonnes, as their EU-based importers could import goods from other manufacturers and bring the total annual import weight above the threshold, Tsai said.
While specific details on the mechanism’s carbon price deduction and carbon footprint verification have yet to be announced, the carbon price calculation and CBAM declaration procedures are complex enough to burden SMEs, she said.
To help businesses understand and adapt to the mechanism, the ministry would launch a platform on the administration’s Web site within a week to facilitate two-way communication between the ministry and the industry, Tsai said.
The platform aims to make CBAM information accessible to all SMEs affected by the mechanism and to encourage them to consult the ministry for further information or assistance, she added.
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
A man walks past elementary school artworks at the Taipei Lantern Festival in Ximen District yesterday, the first day of the event. The festival is to run from 5pm to 10pm through March 15.
RSS