The UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) starts on 1 January 2027 and will hit imports of aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron and steel. The person named as importer on the customs declaration is liable, even if a broker or forwarder files the paperwork. Importers must register once their CBAM goods reach £50,000 in 12 months, with the first return and payment covering all of 2027 due by 31 May 2028. The charge is based on the embodied emissions of the goods multiplied by a quarterly CBAM rate linked to the UK ETS auction price. Importers can use verified actual emissions or government default values, and can deduct carbon prices already paid abroad. The UK scheme does not yet cover electricity or indirect emissions, unlike the EU version, so businesses moving goods between the UK and EU should check both sets of rules. The biggest risk is data. Importers need a full year of commodity codes, net weights excluding packaging, origin records and verification reports, and those records come mostly from brokers and forwarders. Start collecting that data from day one, agree how declaration data will be shared, and confirm liability if you act as an indirect representative.
