President Donald Trump’s opposition has blocked a proposed global tax on shipping emissions, derailing efforts to implement the measure this year and sparking criticism from environmental advocates who had anticipated an international agreement.
A United Nations maritime meeting postponed a decision on a plan to charge large vessels $380 per tonne of emissions for one year, following a months-long campaign by U.S. officials, including Trump, who labeled the fee an “unworkable global carbon tax.” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated the president had “saved America from the outrageous climate scam,” urging other nations to reject what she called a “destructive agenda.”
The World Economic Forum reported that governments worldwide collected $104 billion in carbon taxes last year to combat “climate change.” European nations and the U.K., which supported the shipping tax in April, lost Friday’s 57-49 vote to delay it. The U.S., Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia, among others, had opposed the emissions charge in April and backed the postponement, citing potential costs.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation warned that a new carbon tax on ocean shipments, proposed by the UN International Marine Organization, would increase expenses for goods and travel, arguing it would be managed by “unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.” In July, the Trump administration began developing a plan to counter the carbon tax, with the State Department leading global diplomatic outreach to 108 nations by August. U.S. officials also met with European leaders in Brussels and at the UN General Assembly to discuss alternatives.
They questioned the allocation of the projected $10 billion annual revenue, calling it an “environmental slush fund” due to unfinalized financial details, despite draft plans for low-emission fuel funding. Environmentalists criticized the administration’s delay as misguided, noting ships, primarily oil-powered, emit over a billion tons of emissions annually.
The Trump administration also announced tariffs, visa restrictions, and financial penalties on nations supporting the “European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations,” vowing to “fight hard to protect our economic interests.” Globalist entities like the International Monetary Fund advocate for a global carbon tax on aviation and shipping, which could cost Canada 0.52% of GDP ($23.6 billion) by 2035.
A maritime shipping tax, if implemented, could generate over $200 billion by 2035 for climate finance in developing economies, according to IMF estimates. Currently, 70% of countries lack a national carbon tax, including the U.S. Trump reaffirmed the U.S. stance on Thursday, stating the country “will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping,” vowing not to tolerate increased consumer prices or a “Green New Scam Bureaucracy.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier discussed carbon tariffs to “ensure imported goods face the same carbon costs as domestically produced goods,” vowing to keep Canadian companies competitive. A Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), or tariff on imported goods based on manufacturing emissions, will be implemented in 2026, complicating trade with the U.S., while risking Canadian exporters as collateral damage.
The EU started gathering emissions data for its CBAM in 2023 and will begin collecting carbon tariffs in 2026, generating an estimated €2.1 billion in revenues by 2030 at the expense of taxpayers. Globalists are pushing a green reset by manipulating nations to transition from fossil fuels to so-called “green energy” and “renewables,” which critics argue is unneeded, unwanted, unaffordable, and unacceptable.
