UK CBAM from 2027: is your product covered?
The UK starts its own Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on 1 January 2027. Type your product's code to see whether UK importers will pay on it, next to the EU answer, and whether your sales alone put your UK buyer over the £50,000 threshold.
1. Your product
The first 4 to 8 digits of the code on your invoice or shipping bill.
2. Your sales to one UK buyer
A UK importer must register with HMRC once it has imported £50,000 or more of CBAM goods in the last 12 months, or expects to in the next 30 days. Enter what you sell to one UK buyer in a year to see whether your goods alone take it over.
Who pays, and from when
The importer into the UK pays, not the exporter. UK CBAM starts on 1 January 2027 for aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron and steel; glass and ceramics, proposed earlier, are not in scope from 2027. The importer must register with HMRC once it has imported £50,000 or more of CBAM goods in the previous 12 months, or expects to within the next 30 days. Only goods imported from 1 January 2027 count.
- 1 January 2027: UK CBAM starts; a rate per sector is published each quarter.
- 31 January 2028: registration deadline for importers liable in 2027.
- 31 May 2028: return and payment for 2027, the first accounting period.
- From 2028: quarterly accounting periods.
What your UK buyer will ask you for
- The direct emissions embodied in each good, as t CO2e per tonne to 5 decimal places. From 2027 the UK counts no indirect (electricity) emissions for any sector, unlike the EU for cement, fertilisers and agglomerated iron ore.
- For the steel or aluminium you buy in (precursors): their direct emissions too, verified, or the UK default value.
- A verification report from a verifier independent of your plant and accredited by a body that is a full member of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated. An EU accreditation is not by that fact a UK one: ask your verifier.
- The weight of each consignment in tonnes, without packing.
For iron, steel and aluminium goods the UK System Boundaries Document draws the same boundary as the EU's rules, so figures you calculate for EU buyers can serve UK buyers too, minus any indirect emissions, with three exceptions: ferro-silicon (7202 29) counts as a precursor in the UK but not in the EU; the UK document leaves the category of semi-finished steel (7207, 7218, 7224) open; and precursors without a verified figure take the UK default value, not the EU one. Our own-emissions calculator works them out with the EU method.
What it will cost: not published yet
HM Treasury sets one UK CBAM rate per sector, published every quarter from 1 January 2027, and the UK default values, by a notice before UK CBAM starts (they may differ by place of production). Neither has been published, so this page shows no cost yet; it will once they are. A UK importer can claim relief for a carbon price already paid where the goods were made, under the carbon pricing schemes HMRC lists. Until then, the EU cost calculator shows what your EU buyers pay.
UK and EU CBAM side by side
| Topic | EU CBAM | UK CBAM |
|---|---|---|
| Pays from | Imports from 1 January 2026 | Imports from 1 January 2027 |
| Threshold | 50 tonnes or less a year exempt (not hydrogen or electricity) | Register at £50,000 of goods in 12 months |
| Price | Certificates at the EU ETS price | A tax at a rate set each quarter |
| Emissions counted | Direct; indirect too for cement, fertilisers and agglomerated iron ore | Direct only |
| Default values | Per product and country of production | Set by a Treasury notice (not yet published) |
| First payment | Certificates on sale from 1 February 2027; first surrender by 30 September 2027 | Return and payment by 31 May 2028 |
More free tools
- Cost calculatorWhat your EU buyer pays for one product, year by year to 2034.
- Is my product covered?Type an HS or CN code: is it covered by CBAM?
- CBAM readiness checkTen questions: how ready you are, and what to do next.
- Products covered from 2028Will your product be added from 2028? Three EU proposals compared.
- Emissions calculatorYour plant's own emissions per tonne, against the EU default.
- Compare metal sourcesWhich country's steel or aluminium has the lowest default value.
- CBAM deadlinesEvery CBAM date to 2034, as a calendar file.
- Check your communication templateCheck your filled-in Commission template before you send it.
- CBAM monitoring plan templateA Word draft of your plant's monitoring plan, with all 22 elements.
- CBAM data inventory workbookA 12-month Excel workbook for your plant's production, fuels and precursors.
- Ask your supplier for emissions dataA ready letter asking your mill for emissions data.
- Emissions summary for your EU buyerA one-page emissions summary PDF for your EU customer.
- Verification checklistThe records a verifier will ask for, as a printable list.
Rules from the GOV.UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) policy summary, Finance Act 2026 Schedules 16 and 17, The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Emissions and Verification) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/995) and HMRC's System Boundaries Document v1.00 (10 July 2026). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. A guide, not legal or tax advice; see the disclaimer. How the figures are calculated