News Briefing

In response to the pre-scheduled plan that the EU will impose carbon tariffs on high-carbon products in 2026, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Law will be revised to charge carbon fees. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) stated that it will propose an average value from the standards of export competitors that will be formulated and enacted into sub-law as it discusses the details with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). It is intended that a regular rate adjustment mechanism will be stipulated within the sub-law while the carbon fee will be levied the year after next at the earliest given current legislative procedures. 

Impact Analysis

According to World Bank data, as many as 29 countries have already implemented carbon emissions trading in 2021 while 35 countries adopted carbon taxes/fees measures. Totaling 64 countries, this means that about 21.5% of global carbon emissions are being controlled. Among them, Canada, some EU countries, and Mexico have also conducted carbon trading and carbon tax measures. Similarly, major Asian countries like Japan have for the time being enforced carbon tax levies, South Korea a carbon trading system, and mainland China officially launched the largest global carbon trading market this July. On the other hand, as the largest economy across the globe, the United States has yet to take any concrete action.

Since the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Law of Taiwan (Temperature Management Law) was launched in 2015, the EPA has already proposed an amendment draft and renamed it the “Climatic Change Response Law.” As instructed by the premier of Executive Yuan on August 30 this year, the draft amendment should include zero emissions as its objective in 2050. Since Taiwan has not yet formulated a formal regulatory carbon fee system for the time being and it relies heavily on the export trade economy, the impact on the overall industry may have increased significantly by 2026. That is if the international community implements and expands carbon border taxes with the extent of bearing up to the electronics, chemical material, and non-metal industries.

Just a few days ago, the consumption control policy on dual-energy in China has resulted in power rationing and production curtailment in many areas; this should be well noted for Taiwanese PCB companies to rethink their future layout. As such, it is suggested that net-zero carbon emissions can be employed as the primary approach. This is as PCB manufacturers consider several aspects as a stock-taking of carbon emissions from the perspective of process, the autonomy of renewable energy, and procurement of green power on the energy side, and carbon reduction of waste on the recycling side. In this way, they can then work towards a future corporate transformation during the current global environmental protection impetus.

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