ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

A tax may be an appropriate instrument to address climate change because it can reduce demand for energy, promote more efficient technologies, and, with GHG taxes, lead to the adoption of cleaner energy. Environmental Taxes may applied to final products, inputs to thoses products, or production processes. Article II:2(a) of GATT allows border tax adjustments to recover the loss of competitiveness. WTO rules prohibit adjustment at the border on imported or exported goods in respect of direct taxation, while permitting the border adjustment with respect to indirect taxation. The maximum amounts of border tax adjustment on imported goods shall not exceed those levied on domestically produced goods. The border tax adjustments exceeding those maximum amounts are inconsistent with Article III:2 of GATT 1994. The maximum amounts of border tax adjustment on exported goods shall not exceed those levied on products consumed in domestic market. The border tax adjustments exceeding those maximum amounts are inconsistent with WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM). Under WTO law relating to cumulative taxes, remissions may be granted on exports for cumulative indirect taxes imposed on energy, fuels and oil used in the production process an well as those imposed on inputs to products which are physically incorporated in exported goods. If a government generally imposes a high energy tax but then exempts particular industries, such an exemption might be viewed as a specific subsidy that would be actionable under the WTO SCM. Furthermore, if an exemption is targeted to industries that export, it might be viewed as an export subsidy illegal under the SCM. In sum, environmental taxes can be a valuable instruments to reduce the emission of green house gases. Governments considering of levying such taxes and applying border tax adjustments should carefully design domestic measures with taking into account WTO laws.

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