Vanderbilt Law School Director of International Legal Studies Timothy Meyer and Roosevelt Institute Director of Governance Studies Todd Tucker recommended a two-pronged climate change/international trade policy they call the Green Steel Deal.
The “club” would agree to apply a common carbon tariff on the imports of steel from nonmember countries, and within 10 years, all members would replace the tariff with an internal ban on the sale of dirty steel.
“The steel industry is the ideal sector in which to begin transatlantic cooperation on trade and climate,” Tucker and Meyer wrote.
The climate crisis is one of the most important long-term challenges facing policymakers around the world.
“Integrating climate mitigation strategies into trade policy is important because over a quarter of carbon emissions are embedded in trade flows,” according to the authors.
The Green Steel Deal becomes an opportunity for countries to consider what is locally effective in climate mitigation, and then translate those lessons into trade rules through negotiated outcomes.