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Buyer, Beware: China Says Importing Countries Responsible for Its Emissions

    • Interesting idea indeed but please think this logic through till the end. Finally, it is the Western consumer who wants these products who should pay the price. So, let's have a global high ecotax on consumption.

    • I agree somewhat with China about this but I would have to read more into it. If this were to happen it would just give us more incentive here in the United States to create more clean manufacturing jobs. China is 20 years or more away from having any factories that are clean/green to even a certain degree. If they were to charge the United States for each Chinese product imported it would raise the Chinese products up to around the same price or at least make it on the same playing field as American products. All it comes down to is the charges are passed onto the consumer so it will just give more incentive for American companies to go green and not get the extra tax which could make our products here cheap since China is nowhere close to making any manufacturing clean.

    • WHy not impose a carbon tax at import? THis raises the price of the imported product and makes the domestic alternatives more competitive (i.e. it would reduce or eliminate the price differntial attributable to carbon "leakage"). It also gives CHina (and others) the incentive to reduce emissions since it would make their exports more cost competitive.

    • Does this sound like a border adjustment tax to anyone else?

    • Sorry, looks like Brendan beat me to the punch. Certainly an import tariff that China supports would be better for all involved than one we impose on them, and steps to increase their domestic demand are probably not a bad thing either.

    • This would kill two birds with one stone: decreasing greenhouse gas emissions while also bringing high tech manufacturing jobs back to the US. If the US is unwilling to increase import tariffs, then it would be great to have the Chinese impose an export tariff to level the playing field.

    • The US should make China use non-CO2 emitting energy. If Obama is truly against climate change, we must force China to stop being the world's number one polluter of dirty CO2. If we do not stop polluting the ozone and troposphere we could end up like the planet Venus (see Al Gore's speach to congress for detail).

    • You aren't reading the fine print of the Chinese proposal. China categorically rejects carbon import or export taxes on the products manufacturered there for export. Under the Chinese proposal the additional carbon emissions assigned to importing countries would need to be offset through further limits on those countries domestic production. Needless to say such a proposal will not fly, and, if it did, would encourage, not reduce, carbon flight by dirty industries to China and other developing "export" economies. See:

    • Not a bad idea.
      The states themselves individually should tax Chinese import goods.
      Why leave it up to the Federal government to act responsible.
      The states have the power to tax highly carbon products
      and China is right they should take the responsibility in their own hands and do it.

    • Why not build our own "Clean Green" plants and make the items here - as we did before. We then would not have to worry about the pollution coming out of China and would be creating jobs again for our people to buy and sell to other countries like we use too.

    • It was very interesting for me to read the post. Thanx for it. I like such topics and anything connected to this matter. I would like to read more soon. By the way, pretty nice design you have here, but don’t you think it should be changed once in a few months?

      Brandy Meetington
      reusable coffee filter


      Joan Smith

    • I like it; then it may make some items more economical to manufacture here.

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