THE Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, has warned the United States against introducing "carbon tariffs" to protect American industry, an idea floated earlier this month by the US Energy Secretary, Steven Chu.
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Ms Wong said Australia had a "consistent position on trade policy and that is, as a small and open economy, we support open trade".
Mr Chu posed the idea of a tariff on countries that do not have greenhouse gas reduction mandates. It has been backed by the US steel industry, but drew a furious response from China. The senior Chinese negotiator from the National Development and Reform Commission, Li Gao, said that a carbon tariff would be "a disaster" which would prompt a trade war.
Overnight Ms Wong was to tell US climate change advisers and other leaders on Capitol Hill that there were other ways to deal with the competitive challenges of climate change policy, such as Australia's scheme to give trade-exposed industries free permits for a period.
