The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) puts a carbon price on certain goods entering the European Union (EU). The CBAM certificate price for goods imported in the third quarter of 2026 is €82.32 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). The European Commission published it on 5 October 2026. That is €7.04, or 9.4%, above the second-quarter price of €75.28.
For a United States (US) company, the exposure sits at its European sites. Any site that imports cement, iron and steel, aluminum, fertilizers, hydrogen or electricity from outside the EU can carry the obligation. That includes metal shipped from the parent company’s own US plants.
The CBAM certificate price now tracks the EU carbon market
The Commission sets the price as the weighted average of EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) auction clearing prices over the quarter. The first quarter of 2026 was €75.36. The second was €75.28. The third is €82.32. The fourth-quarter price is due on 4 January 2027. From 2027, the Commission publishes a price every week, so cost follows the carbon market more closely.
Each 1,000 tCO2e embedded costs €82,320 before adjustment
The method: embedded emissions multiplied by the certificate price, then by the share not covered by the free allocation adjustment. EU producers keep 97.5% of their free ETS allowances in 2026 under Article 10a(1a) of the ETS Directive, so importers pay on roughly 2.5%. That share rises to 5% in 2027 and 100% in 2034. The exact figure depends on each product’s benchmark.
- Gross value at €82.32: €82,320
- 2026 payable at about 2.5%: about €2,058
- 2027 payable at 5%, price held flat: about €4,116
- 2034 payable at 100%, price held flat: €82,320
The 2026 bill is small, but the trajectory is not. At today’s price, cost per tonne rises 40-fold between 2026 and 2034.
US plants have little or no carbon price to deduct
CBAM lets importers deduct a carbon price already paid in the country of origin. The US has no federal carbon price. For most steel or aluminum made in the US and shipped to an Irish, Dutch or German site, there is little or nothing to deduct. The full CBAM charge typically applies.
Measured plant data can cut what you pay
Where a supplier cannot provide verified actual emissions, the declarant can fall back on default values set by the Commission. A default value may overstate a plant that performs better than average. Verified installation-level data is the way to pay on what the plant really emits.
For a US parent supplying its own EU sites, that means a product carbon footprint at plant level: direct fuel and process emissions, plus electricity where the goods category requires it. Manufacturing groups with integrated US and EU operations are most exposed.
Three steps before certificates go on sale
Certificates go on sale on the common central platform in February 2027. The first annual CBAM declaration and surrender is due by 30 September 2027. Importers below a cumulative 50 tonnes of CBAM goods a year are exempt.
- Map which EU sites import CBAM goods from outside the EU, including from US group plants.
- Request installation-level emissions data from each supplier, starting with your own plants.
- Budget on the 2027 to 2034 ramp, not the 2026 figure.
Our supply chain and Scope 3 and advisory and reporting teams build the product-level emissions data CBAM declarations depend on.
The certificate price moves with the EU carbon market and no site can control it. The embedded emissions figure behind each declaration is the one number a US group can manage, starting at its own plants.
