MACF: extension of the product scope proposed by the European Commission

MACF has entered its final phase for a month; While some companies are discovering the mechanism at the time of importation, others have found that some side effects are already being experienced, such as the importation of finished products not affected by MACF instead of those components of this product that are regulated upon arrival and therefore at significant additional costs; This is the case, for example, for Chapters 72, 73 and 76, which contain a large number of materials used in the manufacture of industrial products not concerned.

The European Commission, aware of these effects, calls for the risk of « flight downstream » or « circumvention » Rules of Procedure. In order not to penalize European producers, the Commission makes proposals on several levels; The main and important information is the extension to processed products made from steel and aluminium. As a result, new products will be affected by MACF from 2028 onwards:

• passenger cars and car parts, including parts of such vehicles such as thermal and electric motors, gearboxes, etc.;
• appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, heat pumps;
• construction and lifting equipment (cranes, cranes, etc.);
• industrial machines such as sawing, projecting, cooling towers;
• agricultural machinery, including spraying, irrigation and ploughing machinery.

Among the other proposals, the Commission has launched a temporary decarbonisation fund to assist European producers of goods covered by the MACF and to mitigate the risk of downstream leakage. This fund will be financed in part by revenues generated by the sale of MACF certificates from February 2027.