The Philippines’ zero-tariff on electric vehicles (EVs) and parts has been extended until 2028. The decision was made by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board in mid-May 2024 after a review of Executive Order (EO) No. 12 (s. 2023), which had temporarily zero-rated the imports.

On 17 June 2024, the Council of the EU, which represents the Member States, adopted its position (known in EU parlance as its ‘general approach’) on the green claims Directive. Hong Kong sellers will likely already know that this Directive, when eventually adopted and implemented EU-wide, aims to address greenwashing and help consumers make genuinely greener decisions when buying a product or using a service.

Earlier this month, Sandbag, an environmental think tank, published a report claiming that the biggest effect of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”) may be stifling profits of EU businesses and diminishing their ability to compete against third country businesses, rather than limiting production of emission intensive products in third countries. On the other hand, Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate Action, recently gave a speech where he proposed an expansion of the CBAM to cover additional products.

US solar manufacturers have petitioned for antidumping and countervailing duties (AC/CVD) on solar imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee (Alliance) submitted the petition to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and the US Department of Commerce on 24 April 2024.

The White House on 16 May announced a series of actions to strengthen the domestic solar manufacturing sector and protect U.S. businesses and workers from mainland China’s “unfair trade actions.”

The European Parliament has adopted the net-zero industry Act, the primary aim of which is to make the EU internal market fit for industrial decarbonisation. The Act supports manufacturing of key technologies which are needed for the EU’s climate and energy objectives. Once implemented, it will mean faster permitting procedures and the establishment of net-zero industry valleys, as well as new criteria for public procurement procedures, among other matters. The next and final step in the law-making procedure is the formal rubber-stamping of the Act by the EU Council.

On 30 April 2024, for the first time since the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries (the EUBR), the European Commission (the Commission) has published on its Public Consultations and Feedback (‘Have your say’) website the draft text of a related Commission Delegated Regulation (CDR). The draft text supplements the EUBR by establishing the methodology for the calculation and verification of the carbon footprint of electric vehicle batteries and its accompanying Annex.

The European Parliament has formally endorsed a new Regulation establishing a framework for setting eco-design requirements for sustainable products. This new law, approved on 23 April 2024, seeks to promote the reusability, repairability, upgradability, and recyclability of goods sold to EU customers.

The most recent legislative development in the framework of the ‘Fit for 55’ package (part of the European Green Deal) is the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which has recently received formal approval from the Council of the European Union, the representative of the EU Member States. This Directive sets ambitious emission reduction targets for residential and non-residential buildings in order to reach the overall goal of making the EU’s housing stock net-zero by 2050.

Hong Kong traders should be informed that EU Directive 2024/825 empowering consumers for the green transition has entered into force, and will become applicable in just over two years from now, i.e., on 27 September 2026. The Directive amends the existing legislation on unfair commercial practices, by protecting consumers against misleading environmental claims and by ensuring that they are provided with better information.