Offenbar erwägen grüne Politiker in der EU und den USA, die sogenannte Superwaffe im Kampf gegen die wirtschaftliche Herausforderung Asiens einzusetzten: Die Einführung von Strafzöllen auf kohlenstoffintensive Importe aus Entwicklungsländern. Erklärt der Westen dem Rest der Welt den grünen Krieg? 

Vergangene Woche hatte die Kommission angekündigt, dass sie erwäge, Importeure zu verpflichten, auf kohlenstoffintensive Güter Verschmutzungsgebühren zahlen zu müssen. Darauf haben die wichtigsten Handelspartner der EU mit starker Kritik reagiert.

Plans to force importers to pay the same greenhouse gas emission charges as domestic producers could provoke a trade war of retaliation and litigation, officials and lawyers have warned.

The plans, being considered by the US Senate and floated by the European Commission, are intended to prevent production shifting to laxer regimes abroad after countries impose carbon controls. But although supporters argue they will comply with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt), the treaty that underlies the World Trade Organisation, officials and lawyers say that affected countries such as China and India are likely to resort to litigation or retaliation.

Ujal Singh Bhatia, India’s ambassador to the WTO, said: “If the countries imposing such measures invoke Gatt provisions to justify them, the dispute settlement mechanism in [the] WTO would face serious challenges and create divisions along North-South lines.”