The meeting comes amid the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) being implemented by the European Union, which would have an adverse impact on India’s exports of metals such as iron, steel and aluminium products to the EU, they said.
The EU is introducing CBAM from October 1 this year. The new mechanism will translate into a 20-35% tax on select imports into the EU starting January 1, 2026.
On the request of the representatives of various steel companies and industry bodies the steel ministry held a meeting on Wednesday evening.
“In the hybrid meeting chaired by steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha, the industry raised the issue of CBAM, saying it violates several articles of the WTO”, sources said.
They also noted that post imposition of the tax regime, India will become vulnerable to dumping of steel items by various countries, which may include those part of the EU itself.
“The industry also informed the government that 79% of the historical carbon emissions has been done by the developed nations themselves that is why common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) for carbon emission has been agreed in Paris Agreement and the tax is in violation of this”, they said.
India exports 4 million tonnes of finished steel to the EU region, annually.
