At the final hour, the Trump administration has struck out against IMO plans for a global carbon tax on shipping, threatening to retaliate against an “unfair” standard that would treat all maritime carbon emissions equally around the world. The U.S. has also reportedly withdrawn its delegation from the talks, effective Wednesday.
The response is in line with the administration’s combative rhetoric towards carbon regulations and otherinternational agreements, but it is a stark departure from the neutral tone that U.S. negotiators previously maintained. It is unclear whether senior White House leadership was involved in formulating the more accommodatingU.S. negotiating position that American representatives projected in the runup to this week’sMEPC meeting in London, which ends Friday.
“Should such a blatantly unfair measure go forward, our government will consider reciprocal measures so as to offset any fees charged to U.S. ships and compensate the American people for any other economic harm from any adopted GHG emissions measures,” the White House wrote in a last-minute warning to other national delegations. “We must be clear the U.S. rejects any and all efforts to impose economic measures against its ships based on GHG emissions or fuel choice.”
Anyparticipation in a tax on shipping’s GHG emissions – the first global carbon levy of any kind- would have been in deep conflict with White House policy on climate change. President Donald Trump campaigned against climate action and withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement on the first day of his second term, and he has promoted the production and use of all fossil fuels – including the renewed use of coal, the most carbon-intensive fuel.
An IMO bunker levy would also boostshipbuilding activity in East Asia, which would undercut White House policy goals.The Trump administration wants to reduce thepower of Chinese shipyards, which lead the market and would stand to benefit from any IMO incentives forgreen retrofits and newbuilds. China’s state-owned CSSC is the world’s largest commercial shipbuilder, and any additional merchant vessel orders would cross-subsidizeits warship deliveriesfor the PLA Navy, the U.S. Navy’s pacing threat.
