“The Trump Administration Must Reject This Globalist Scam”
WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Vern Buchanan, Vice Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and member of the Trade Subcommittee, and Daniel Blazer, co-founder of World Direct Shipping, penned an op-ed in RealClearWorld urging the Trump administration to reject the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) vote this week on the adoption of a global carbon tax on emissions produced by maritime vessels.
“This is a test of leadership and resolve,” write Buchanan and Blazer in the op-ed. “If America caves to an unaccountable global tax, it will open the door to further encroachments on our sovereignty and weaken our ability to compete with China in industries vital to our security. If we push back, we can protect American jobs, strengthen our supply chains and keep our economy competitive.”
In April, the IMO Council voted 63 to 16 to advance a global carbon pricing framework proposal that would penalize vessels based on their emissions profiles, incentivizing the premature retirement of seaworthy ships and driving demand for new construction. This artificial market distortion would disproportionately benefit China, the world’s largest shipbuilder, eroding U.S. competitiveness and national security.
In June, Buchanan wrote a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer opposing the IMO’s global carbon tax on emissions. In the letter, Buchanan urged Greer to treat the proposed tax as a continuation of the non-market tactics identified in the recent Section 301 investigation into China’s shipbuilding sector and ensure that future trade negotiations take into account each country’s vote on the proposal.
Read the full op-ed here or below:
America Must Reject the Global Carbon Tax
Rep. Vern Buchanan and Daniel Blazer
This week, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, will consider adopting a so-called “Net-Zero Framework” aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions from the international shipping sector. Stripped of the greenwashed jargon, this is a global carbon tax on international shipping. It would raise costs for American businesses and families, distort global trade and hand China an enormous strategic victory.
The Trump administration must reject this globalist scam and continue focusing on putting America and Americans first.
For the United States, the damage of this tax would be immediate and severe. Shipping is the backbone of international trade. Last year alone, America imported more than $4 trillion in goods and exported over $3 trillion. If this framework is adopted, the added costs will ripple through every sector of the economy, from agriculture and manufacturing to consumer goods and energy. Although the U.S. accounts for only about 11 percent of global maritime trade by value, it would shoulder roughly 20 percent of the total tax burden. As these costs flow through supply chains, the total inflationary impact is projected to reach nearly $1 trillion between 2028 and 2035. The State Department has already warned the plan would “impose substantial economic burdens on the sector and drive inflation globally.”
Nowhere is this threat clearer than in Florida. At SeaPort Manatee, Mr. Blazer’s company, World Direct Shipping, runs the leading short-sea service between Mexico and the Eastern U.S., supporting more than 500 direct and 14,000 indirect jobs. His ships emit far less CO2 per ton-mile than trucks or trains, yet the IMO framework applies only to maritime transport. That means cleaner, safer shipping will be punished while dirtier, less efficient land transport is encouraged. The result would be higher costs for businesses and consumers, more congestion at our borders, greater security risks and fewer jobs for American workers.
This isn’t about environmental stewardship. The Trump administration has been clear that America will not accept international agreements that unduly burden our people or undermine our economic sovereignty. That’s exactly what this tax does. It is taxation without representation, imposed by an unaccountable international body. American consumers and companies would pay billions in new fees, but none of that money would come back to the United States.
The IMO proposal would penalize vessels based on their emissions profiles, forcing the premature retirement of seaworthy ships and driving demand for new construction. That demand won’t be filled by American shipyards. It will be filled by China, which already controls nearly half the world’s shipbuilding capacity and has made no secret of its goal to dominate this critical industry. Despite its usual resistance to binding environmental mandates, Beijing voted for the framework precisely because it knows it will tilt the playing field in its favor.
Europe’s role in this scheme also cannot be ignored. The European Union holds 27 votes at the IMO to America’s one, and its major shipping lines control nearly half of the world’s container capacity. Having already implemented their own carbon tax, European regulators are now using the IMO to lock in a global structure that cements their competitive advantage. Their backing of this framework has little to do with climate leadership and everything to do with sidelining U.S. operators in global trade.
The framework also undermines energy innovation. U.S. companies are global leaders in lower-emission fuels like liquified natural gas and biofuels, yet the IMO rules favor unproven and prohibitively expensive alternatives unavailable at scale. Even small vessels would face millions of dollars in annual penalties, costs that would inevitably be passed on to American consumers.
Fortunately, the Trump administration has already drawn a line in the sand. In August, Secretaries Marco Rubio, Howard Lutnick, Chris Wright and Sean Duffy issued a joint statement rejecting the IMO framework, warning it would unfairly raise costs on energy, shipping and tourism while rewarding Chinese shipyards. They made clear that the U.S. will not tolerate such an outcome.
But more must be done. The administration should use every trade negotiation now underway as leverage to nix the proposal. Countries that side with China and support this tax must understand there will be consequences, including reciprocal tariffs and restricted access to the U.S. market. Trade talks are first and foremost about defending the economic security of the American people. The administration’s negotiators should make clear that any country voting for this global carbon tax is voting against free and fair trade with the United States.
This is a test of leadership and resolve. If America caves to an unaccountable global tax, it will open the door to further encroachments on our sovereignty and weaken our ability to compete with China in industries vital to our security. If we push back, we can protect American jobs, strengthen our supply chains and keep our economy competitive.
The IMO framework is bad policy, bad economics and bad geopolitics. The United States must reject it, and the Trump administration must lead the way going into the IMO’s vote. Our workers, our industries and our sovereignty depend on it.
Mr. Buchanan, a Republican, is a U.S. Representative from Florida. Mr. Blazer is a co-founder of World Direct Shipping, a shipping company based at SeaPort Manatee, Florida.
