CBAM in 2026: what actually changes

1. Import becomes conditional

Above the annual 50-tonne de minimis, covered goods can only be brought into the EU when an authorised CBAM declarant stands behind them — either the importer itself, or an indirect customs representative carrying the CBAM responsibility. This turns CBAM from a filing task into something that can physically stop a shipment.

2. Supplier data becomes commercial data

The obligation is calculated on the embedded emissions of the goods. That data sits with producers outside the EU, who often have no reporting habit and no incentive to build one. Where verified figures are unavailable, default values apply — and defaults are rarely favourable.

The practical work is unglamorous: telling each supplier exactly which figures you need, in what unit, per product, and chasing them until the numbers arrive in a usable form.

3. Landed cost changes, unevenly

Two suppliers of the same product can now land at materially different costs, depending on their production route and the quality of their emissions data. If your pricing assumes interchangeable sources, it needs revisiting.

What to do now

• Pull your HS codes and last twelve months of tonnage for covered sectors.
• Confirm whether you cross the 50-tonne threshold, per legal entity.
• Decide who carries the declarant role — you, or a representative.
• Start the supplier data request. This is the long pole, not the filing.
• Re-run landed cost per supplier once you have real figures.

Where BRDG fits

BRDG is an authorised CBAM declarant and can act as the CBAM declarant for imports into Sweden and the EU. With experience across both European import requirements and industrial supply chains outside the EU, we sit between your suppliers and the European market — and can also run importer of record, customs and warehousing on the same shipment.

Our CBAM declarant service →

General information, not legal advice. Rules and thresholds should be confirmed against your specific goods and volumes.