Implementation Mechanism Of Carbon Tariff And Its Effects On China’s Export Trade

Global climate changes have attracted more and more international attentions. The global greenhouse gas emission reduction policies will be implemented in the international scope."Kyoto Protocol" defined clearly the "common but differentiated responsibilities" between developed countries and developing countries, namely that the developed countries undertake quantified emission reduction targets, while developing countries do not undertake emission reduction quota. The developed countries in Europe and America then tried to impose punitive carbon tariffs on high carbon products imports from developing countries to oppress the developing countries to implement the same standard emission reduction measures, which in essence is a kind of new trade protection the doctrine. Origin of carbon tariff can be traced to the former French President Chirac’s first proposition of imposing border adjustment to the "Kyoto Protocol" non-compliance or no emission reduction obligations of national product. The border tax adjustment act aiming at imports collection, which is regarded as the first law with the specific implementation time passed by the United States House in June2009. Subsequently and clearly, the Chinese government expressed opposition to carbon tariffs, and fiercely confronted to the United States, the representative of the developed countries, in world climate conference in Copenhagen. In such a macro background, this paper develops an in-depth study on the theory of mechanism of carbon tariff and import&export trade impact on china.This study develops in four steps. Firstly, discuss the basic concepts and theoretical basis of carbon tariff, including the meanings, proposed backgrounds, legislative status, nature and characteristics analysis, and the effects of carbon tariff, which lays the foundation for the following research of this paper. Secondly, analyze the rationality in the reality and historical perspective, the legitimacy mainly through the analysis of GATT "most-favored-nation treatment clause","national treatment" and "exception" to define the carbon tariff, and the development trend of carbon tariff by game mechanism analysis, which provide reasonably a legal basis for our policy recommendations of carbon tariff. Thirdly, explore the impact of carbon tariffs on China’s export trade, to make empirical analysis about export impact on China’s traditional industries of high energy consumption. Finally, propose the policy recommendations of carbon tariff. Through a detailed analysis of "most-favored-nation treatment clause","national treatment" and "exception" of GATT, at this stage, we cannot say the carbon tariffs of the United States broke the basic rules of WTO. With the global environmental problems becoming more and more serious, the standpoint about WTO on the environment and trade has undergone a subtle change that carbon tariff is being accepted by the age. In the short term, China’s high energy-consuming industries and low energy industry are subject to varying degrees of impact of carbon tariffs, but in the long term, carbon tariff is good for China’s industry upgrade. With the coming of Low carbon era, carbon tariff is inevitable. Considering the impact of carbon tariff on different sectors of China’s import and export trade, China should actively adopt various strategies to cope with it. On the one hand, China must oppose resolutely to the developed countries’ unilateral standards on carbon tariffs imposing, actively carry out the climate diplomacy to create a favorable external environment, and actively participate in international climate cooperation to establish the new rules in favor of China; On the other hand, China should start constructions of three structures and a machine system, namely, the adjustment of industrial structure, the optimization of energy structure, export trade structure, and the improvement of the domestic emissions trading mechanism.