Global News Of Note: European Union, UK Move On Tax And Tariff Issues

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• On March 15, the European Union (EU) approved a plan to levy a carbon emissions tariff on the importation of goods that create environmental damage during production. While the exact details of the carbon tax plan will be worked out during upcoming discussions, the EU plans to impose the tax on aluminum, cement, electricity, fertilizer, and steel. The regime could be put into place as early as 2026. The proposed tax is part of the EU’s climate change plan to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Read more here.
• The United Kingdom announced last week that it would impose 35 percent tariffs on several products, including industrial metals products, from Russia and Belarus.
• The EU also announced last week that it will increase tariffs on stainless steel products from India and Indonesia after determining that these products benefited from unfair subsidies, including some from China. The European Commission, which conducted the investigation, has set the anti-subsidy duties on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products at rates of between 4.3 percent and 21.4 percent. Find more information here.
• Finally, EU finance ministers voted last week to introduce a 15 percent global minimum tax across member nations. Representatives from Malta, Poland, and Sweden rejected the bill, however, which means it is questionable whether the bloc will be able to come up with a final deal in the next month. Read more here.