Berlin: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday, October 22, criticised the European Union's carbon tax on steel, saying the bloc was 'inviting disaster' by imposing additional costs that could raise the cost of living and undermine the competitiveness of its industries.
Addressing the Berlin Global Dialogue 2026, Goyal said: 'If you have put a CBAM on yourself, you put a 50% import duty to bring steel into your country, you are inviting disaster. Your cost of living will go up. Your people will be unhappy. Your industry will be out-priced.' CBAM — the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — is the EU's tax on carbon-intensive imported goods.
Source: Livemint — EU carbon tax is 'inviting disaster', says Piyush Goyal, Oct 22, 2026
Goyal argued that Europe keeps adding regulations that burden its own industry and make it uncompetitive, and he cautioned that costlier steel, aluminium and cement — with CBAM and deforestation rules layered on top — would raise the cost of every port, airport, highway and utility built in Europe. He also warned that regulatory restrictions could invite reciprocal measures from trading partners, hurting European businesses in return.
For India, New Delhi has secured commitments from the EU, including a forward-looking most-favoured-nation assurance that any flexibilities granted to third countries under CBAM will also be extended to India, Livemint reported. Under the EU's steel safeguard regime, which took effect on July 1, imports within tariff-rate quotas attract zero duty while those above quota face 50 per cent; Indian officials estimate the country's annual steel exports to the EU at about 2.8 million tonnes.
Speaking separately at the inauguration of the India Centre at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Goyal said the India-EU free trade agreement will be signed before the end of the calendar year 2026 and is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2027. India and the EU wrapped up FTA talks in January 2026, capping negotiations first launched in 2007.
Source: Livemint — EU carbon tax is 'inviting disaster', says Piyush Goyal, Oct 22, 2026