Border Carbon Adjustment Measures Under Gatt

In response to the worsening global climate, the European Union imposed Emission Trading Scheme and the United States designed Carbon Tariffs. The two measures are border carbon adjustment measures which implement the green trade protectionism disguisedly in the grounds of protecting the environment. Our country’s economic interests have been seriously damaged, so designing a effective measures is of great theoretical and realistic significance.Border Carbon Adjustment Measures include two types, i.e. Emission Trading Scheme and Carbon Tariffs. The European Union began to launch the Emission Trading Scheme in2005; Four years later, the United States approved Carbon Tariffs project to be implemented from2020; the European Union put the aviation industry into its Emission Trading Scheme from2012.After comparing related articles of GATT, we believe that the Border Carbon Adjustment Measures may be considered not to conform to the most-favored-nation treatment principle because it was carried out just on the imports from countries having implemented carbon reduction measures; it may be thought inconsistent with national treatment principle because the imports and the domestic similar products enjoy different treatment because of different carbon emissions standards. Although it is to protect the life or health of human, animal and plant, associated with the protection of exhaustible natural resources, and implemented in combination with restrictions on intestine consumption or production, it is not the necessary measures but constitute unreasonable or casual discrimination between nations or forms a disguised restrictions to international trade, which could be concluded that it violates the environmental exception clauses of GATT.European aviation Emission Trading scheme has a significant influence on China’s economic. Effective measures China can take are as follows:firstly, submitting related disputes to the WTO dispute settlement body; secondly, reach a consensus and conclude a binding international treaty by actively negotiating; finally, establishing laws and regulation of the domestic carbon emission trading.Based on the analysis of the previous report about cases the WTO dispute settlement body has handed, the article analyzes the legitimacy of Border Carbon Adjustment Measures under the GATT by using the European Union aviation Emission Trading Scheme, which, in some degree, has certain novelty and feasibility.