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  • CBAM basics
  • compliance

What is CBAM? A plain-English guide for EU importers

5 min read

If you import steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen or electricity into the EU, you have probably had CBAM land in your inbox — usually as a forwarded email with a deadline and a lot of acronyms. This is the plain-English version: what CBAM is, who it touches, and what actually changes for you.

The one-sentence version

CBAM — the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — makes importers of certain carbon-intensive goods pay for the emissions produced making those goods, so that imports face a carbon cost comparable to what EU producers already pay under the EU Emissions Trading System.

The goal is simple even if the paperwork isn't: stop companies from dodging Europe's climate rules by moving production abroad and importing the result.

Which goods CBAM covers

CBAM does not apply to everything you import. It covers six groups of goods where production is especially carbon-intensive:

  • Iron and steel
  • Aluminium
  • Cement
  • Fertilisers
  • Hydrogen
  • Electricity

If none of your imports fall into these categories, CBAM almost certainly doesn't apply to you. If some do, the next question is how much and from where — more on that below.

Two phases: first you report, then you pay

CBAM rolled out in two stages, and it's easy to confuse them:

  1. The transitional phase (2023–2025) was reporting only. Importers filed quarterly reports on the emissions embedded in their goods, but paid nothing. It was a dry run — for companies and for the Commission.
  2. The definitive regime (from 2026) is where it gets real. Importers now have to buy and surrender CBAM certificates covering the emissions embedded in what they bring in. The price of a certificate tracks the EU carbon price, and a shrinking free allocation is phased out over the following years.

In other words: the era of "just report it" is over. From 2026 there's a number attached, in euros.

What you actually have to do

Stripped of the jargon, compliance comes down to a handful of steps repeated for each import:

  • Work out the right customs classification for the goods.
  • Establish the embedded emissions — ideally actual data from your supplier, with default values as a fallback.
  • Calculate the certificate obligation for the emissions that aren't covered by free allocation.
  • Track the deadlines and file an annual declaration.

None of it is conceptually hard. It's just detailed, unforgiving of small errors, and repeated every time you import — which is exactly why it eats time.

Where tarify fits

tarify does the expert part in the background. You connect your files, it reads your invoices, works out whether you're even over the threshold, calculates what you'll owe in plain euros against the actual legal text, and prepares the declaration for you to review and submit. You never have to become a CBAM expert to stay compliant.

Not sure whether any of this applies to you? Run the free 2-minute check — no sign-up, no jargon, just a plain answer.

This article is a general explainer, not legal advice. Your exact obligations are set by the EU regulation and depend on your specific imports.