Recently,Yang Yuntong, Senior Director of Sustainable Development at GeelyAutomobile, provided an in-depth analysis of the evolution of EUcarbon policy and its profound impact on China's foreign tradeindustry. He stated that as EU carbon barrier rules continue totighten and are implemented at an accelerated pace, the constraintsimposed by carbon tariffs and carbon emission standards on the exportof Chinese industrial products, automobiles, and equipment to the EUare amplifying, becoming a core variable that foreign tradeenterprises must confront when venturing overseas.
SinceJanuary 1, 2026, the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) hasofficially come into effect, initially covering import trade in sixhigh-energy-consuming basic raw material categories: steel,electrolytic aluminum, cement, fertilizer, electricity, and hydrogen.According to the mechanism, relevant products exported to the EU mustcalculate their full life-cycle carbon emissions and purchase carbonemission allowances according to corresponding quotas, effectivelycreating an invisible green trade barrier. What's even more alarmingfor the industry is that the EU is not stopping at basic raw materialcontrols; it has clearly planned an expansion, intending to extendthe CBAM (Carbon Border Regulation) to nearly 180 steel- andaluminum-intensive downstream manufactured goods, includingmachinery, complete vehicles, and auto parts, starting in 2028.
Thisexpansion plan directly targets my country's advantageous exportindustries. Construction machinery, general machinery, passengercars, commercial vehicles, and related components are all included inthe proposed new control list. This means that a large number of mycountry's main export categories will be subject to the EU's carbonborder regulation mechanism, leading to a comprehensive upgrade inexport thresholds, compliance costs, and carbon disclosurerequirements, posing a systemic challenge to upstream and downstreammanufacturing enterprises in the industrial chain.
YangYuntong emphasized that the implementation and expansion of EU carbonrules is not merely a matter of increased costs, but a complianceissue concerning market access. It will undoubtedly remain a keyrestrictive factor for Chinese products entering the EU market for along time to come. From a cost perspective, under the CBAM mechanism,products exported to the EU must fully bear the carbon emission costsassociated with the production process. High-carbon-emissionenterprises will face additional carbon allowance expenditures,directly compressing profit margins. Even low-carbon productionenterprises need to invest manpower and resources in building carbonemission accounting, ledger collection, and data traceabilitysystems, indirectly increasing overall operating and export costs.
Froma compliance perspective, the EU's requirements for carbon emissionaccounting standards, full life-cycle carbon footprint traceability,and disclosure processes are becoming increasingly stringent, withincreasingly detailed regulatory standards and intensifiedverification efforts. Export enterprises that previously relied ontraditional production models and extensive management will find itdifficult to meet the EU's stringent environmental and carboncompliance requirements, and may even face risks such as restrictedaccess, lost orders, failure to pass inspections, and market bans. Itcan be said that carbon compliance capability has transformed from abonus for enterprises into a prerequisite for entering the EU market.
Withthe current restructuring of the global trade landscape, green andlow-carbon practices have become the mainstream rules ofinternational trade. The EU, with its comprehensive carbon policysystem, is reshaping regional import trade standards and competitiveorder. Against this backdrop, Chinese manufacturing and automotiveparts exporters, heavily reliant on the EU market, can no longerpassively respond using traditional export-oriented thinking. Theymust proactively transform their development strategies andaccelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of the entireindustrial chain.
Onthe one hand, companies must start from the source of production,optimizing production processes, upgrading energy-saving equipment,adjusting energy structures, and increasing the proportion of greenand clean energy used to continuously reduce carbon emissions in themanufacturing process. Simultaneously, they must iterate productdesign, improving the energy efficiency, environmental friendliness,and low-carbon attributes of vehicles, machinery, and parts, creatinga low-carbon advantage throughout the entire product lifecycle tofundamentally adapt to the EU's increasingly stringent carbonemission standards.
Onthe other hand, companies need to establish a regular policy trackingmechanism, closely monitoring policy dynamics such as revisions tothe EU CBAM rules, category expansion, accounting methods, and quotaprices, and proactively conduct policy analysis and risk assessment.Based on rule changes, they should promptly optimize productstructures, adjust export strategies, improve carbon footprintaccounting and filing systems, and proactively pursue low-carboncertification and green qualification certification. Throughproactive compliance planning, they can effectively mitigate exportrisks brought about by carbon regulations.
Againstthe backdrop of deep globalization and green trade rules dominatingthe market, the EU's escalating carbon barriers present both achallenge and an opportunity to force industrial upgrading. ForChinese export-oriented manufacturing enterprises, only byproactively embracing the low-carbon development trend, integratinggreen transformation and carbon compliance management into theiroverall strategic development, and continuously strengthening theircomprehensive capabilities in technology research and development,low-carbon production, compliance management, and supply chainemission reduction, can they gain a foothold in international greentrade competition. In the future, companies with robust carbonaccounting capabilities, strong low-carbon product capabilities, andcompliant systems will seize the initiative in competition in the EUand global high-end markets, achieving steady and sustainabledevelopment of their foreign trade businesses.
Foundedin 2010, Hefei Jingang Rat Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. islocated in Hefei, capital of China's Anhui Province, and operatesheavy trucks and construction machinery, international trade,financial investment and education.
Asthe largest exporter of heavy trucks and machinery in central China.We have international operations in more than 100 countries andannual sales of more than $100 million.
Itis an important export partner of Sinotruk, ZOOMLION, HELI, SEM,Liugong, Shantui, Heli, Lingong, Hangfork, CIMC, Dongfeng, Foton,Xugong, Sany and other world famous brands, Zoomlion, Heli, CAMC,SDLG, HANGCHA and CIMC, And through a stable customer networkmanagement of spare parts export of these products at home and abroadto enjoy a good reputation.
