German Tire Industry Rejects Proposed CBAM Extension to Steel Intermediates

The German tire industry, represented by ReifenDeutschland, has rejected the proposed extension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to steel intermediate products used in tire manufacturing. The industry association supports the overall objectives of CBAM to reduce global emissions and prevent competitive distortions, but argues that extending the regulation to individual intermediate products would create a new competitive disadvantage for European manufacturers. According to Stephan Rau, technical managing director of WDK and head of ReifenDeutschland, the European tire industry is already under significant pressure from high energy and labor costs, international overcapacity, and growing regulatory requirements. Extending CBAM to steel intermediate products would further increase production costs in Europe, without effectively preventing carbon leakage. ReifenDeutschland is urging the European Commission to consider carbon costs and carbon leakage across the entire downstream value chain, and to develop a simple, robust, and technically workable system that can be applied consistently across member states. The industry association is also calling for closer coordination between CBAM, the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), and the Industrial Accelerator Act to avoid overlapping regulatory burdens and strengthen the competitiveness of European manufacturing.