CBAM Set to Expand to Downstream Steel and Aluminium Products

The Council of the European Union agreed its general approach on extending the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to approximately 180 downstream steel- and aluminium-intensive product categories, effective from January 1, 2028. You can read the details of the approach below.

The European Parliament's Environment Committee subsequently endorsed its own negotiating position, clearing the way for full plenary adoption expected in September 2026 and formal trilogue negotiations thereafter. The expanded scope would bring finished goods such as fasteners, machinery components, vehicle parts, and household appliances into the CBAM certificate regime, in addition to the raw and semi-finished materials already covered since the definitive regime began in January 2026.

For companies that manufacture, assemble, or trade in metal-intensive finished goods destined for the EU market, this expansion signals a materially wider compliance perimeter than originally anticipated. Manufacturers and importers who previously assumed CBAM applied only to primary materials should begin mapping embedded emissions further down their value chains now, since supplier-level emissions data collection, verification, and declarant registration cannot realistically be assembled in the final quarter before the proposed 2028 effective date. Non-EU exporters supplying EU-based assemblers of covered downstream goods should also anticipate new data requests from their EU customers well ahead of formal adoption.

By adopting this general approach, the Council has established its negotiating mandate for talks with the European Parliament (under the ordinary legislative procedure). The extension will only become a legally binding regulation once negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament (trilogues) are concluded, a final text is agreed upon, both institutions formally adopt it, and it is published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

You can find detailed information on this matter on the website of the Council of the European Union via the following link:

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/06/12/council-moves-to-strengthen-the-eu-s-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/