Proposed Foreign Pollution Fee Act

Introduced in November, 2023, the proposed Foreign Pollution Fee Act marks a rare Republican proposal to price carbon pollution — from foreign imports.

The new bill would impose a fee on certain industrial and manufacturing imports, like steel, aluminum, and cement, that are “dirtier” than their U.S.-produced counterparts. The fee — to be calculated by the national laboratories — would increase as the difference in pollution widens between a foreign country and the U.S., and would be eliminated for products within 50 percent of the pollution intensity of comparable products from the U.S.