The European Parliament voted on 15 September 2026 to extend the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to finished goods made largely of steel and aluminium, by 464 votes to 50 with 159 abstentions. Its position covers about 457 products, against about 180 in the Commission's proposal of December 2025 and about 200 in the position the Council agreed in June 2026. The three now negotiate the final text, with the extension meant to apply from 1 January 2028.
Today CBAM covers basic materials only: iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity. That leaves a gap. An importer pays for the carbon in a steel coil but not in the screws or brackets made from that coil abroad. The extension is meant to close it.
What Parliament voted for
| Element | Commission, December 2025 | Parliament, September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Downstream products | About 180, such as machinery parts and construction products | About 457, adding goods such as fasteners, wire, springs and household articles |
| Price shocks | Goods could be removed from CBAM during a price shock | Rejected; CBAM revenue would temporarily go to the affected sectors instead |
| Circumvention | Stricter rules | Lower thresholds, a focus on arrangements made only to avoid CBAM, and default values where circumvention patterns appear |
| Electricity | Covered | Exemption for flows from outside the EU that grid operators use to keep the network stable |
Parliament also made clear that carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement should not count against CBAM obligations, leaving that question to the review of the EU emissions trading system. In a separate vote, 433 to 97 with 146 abstentions, it backed a temporary decarbonisation fund for 2027 to 2029, a year longer than proposed, with fertiliser producers added.
Who should pay attention
Any company that imports finished metal goods from outside the EU: machinery and parts, construction products, tools, fixings, cables and wire, and on Parliament's list even household goods. From 2028, if the extension passes in this form, those imports would need an authorised CBAM declarant, embedded emissions data from the producer, and certificates to cover the emissions.
Where suppliers cannot provide verified emissions, default values apply, and those carry a mark-up that grows from 10% in 2026 to 20% in 2027 and 30% from 2028. The certificate price is the quarterly average auction price of EU allowances until the end of 2026; it was €75.28 per tonne for the second quarter.
What to do before 2028
- Check your import lines against the CN codes in the proposal and in Parliament's list. Even a broad check now tells you whether this is a few lines or a large part of your purchasing.
- Ask non-EU suppliers early whether they can report the embedded emissions of their products under the CBAM method. Many have never been asked.
- Watch the 50-tonne threshold. Importers of less than 50 tonnes a year of goods covered by CBAM are exempt today. If downstream goods are added to the list, check your total again.
The same supplier emissions data is also what makes your Scope 3 purchased goods figure better than a spend estimate. Our guide to CBAM explains declarations, certificates and default values, and the guide to the 15 Scope 3 categories shows where purchased metal goods sit in a carbon footprint.
Joost Thissen
