This week Senate Finance Committee and Energy & Natural Resources Committee member Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced a bill entitled the “Foreign Pollution Act of 2023.”

The proposal would implement a tariff on energy and industrial imports that have a higher environmental impact than those produced within the United States. The bill also aims to facilitate discussions for new global alliances to promote green trade with allies while cutting off China.

The legislation:

• Imposes a fee on the imports of specific commodities exhibiting a “pollution intensity” exceeding 10% compared to similar domestically produced goods.
  • The products would incur varying fee levels based on their emissions, aiming to penalize producers from countries like China that disregard environmental standards to gain a competitive advantage over cleaner U.S. producers, in Cassidy’s view
• Calculates the fee to ensure that the average emissions intensity of products imported into the U.S. remains within 50% of the average emissions intensity of equivalent U.S. manufacturing. The limit would decrease gradually.
  • Under specific circumstances, there could be exemptions or reductions to the fee.
  • The fee would also be exempt for products originating from countries engaged in an “international partnership agreement” if the items fall within 50% of U.S. pollution intensity levels.
• Lists products under consideration, which includes aluminum, batteries, biofuels, cement, crude, glass, hydrogen, iron/steel, minerals, natural gas, petrochemicals, plastics, pulp/paper, refined petroleum products, solar cells, and wind turbines.

“It makes absolutely no sense that we allow China to pollute freely and export their products to the U.S.—displacing U.S jobs, manufacturing, and excellence,” Sen. Cassidy stated in a press release. “The Foreign Pollution Fee begins to hold China accountable for their lack of environmental standards while expanding domestic production, increasing opportunities for the American family, and decreasing global emissions.”

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