The Italian trade association Assofermet has urgently petitioned EU Commissioners Stéphane Séjourné and Maroš Šefčovič regarding the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for steel and aluminum imports. The group points out that the lack of final cost parameters (benchmarks and default values), likely not available until the first quarter of 2026, is causing significant market instability.

This information gap forces traders and processors, who purchase semi-finished goods from outside the EU, to price 2026 supplies blindly, with final CBAM costs only emerging in February 2027.

To prevent severe economic repercussions, Assofermet proposes a temporary exemption from purchasing CBAM certificates for steel and aluminum imports from January 1, 2026, until five months after the definitive reference parameters are published.