Bridging the Transatlantic Divide in Climate Policy

This policy brief by Galina Kolev-Schaefer, Professor of Economics at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences (TH Köln) and Senior Researcher at the German Economic Institute (IW) in Cologne, outlines a possible way of bridging transatlantic differences in climate policy.

The author argues that a transatlantic agreement on sustainable steel and aluminum could establish a foundation for global climate policy cooperation. However, diverging approaches to climate protection, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as Section 232 national security tariffs currently pose challenges for negotiations.

The policy brief is a publication of the Transatlantic Expert Group set up by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Bertelsmann Foundation in Washington, D.C.