Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) has welcomed the British Columbia government's efforts to improve the Province's carbon tax. The British Columbia Carbon Tax is applied only to domestically-produced cement, while imported cement from the US and Asia is exempt, resulting in a net loss to the British Columbia economy. With local manufacturers facing higher costs under the carbon tax, cement imports from jurisdictions without a carbon policy have risen significantly.
The proposed 'transitional incentives,' of US$22m paid over a three year period, to encourage the British Columbia Cement industry to adopt cleaner fuels and further lower emission intensities will assist the current inequality that the industry faces as a result of imports coming from the US and Asia into British Columbia with no carbon tax applied. The cement industry has been working with the British Columbia government and other stakeholders for many years to find a win-win solution to protecting jobs, economic development and the environment.
"British Columbia produces some of the highest quality cement in the world, so the change makes sense both for the environment and for the Province's continued economic prosperity. British Columbia cement is a strategic commodity and a key component of concrete, which is essential to the implementation of the government's ambitious plan for infrastructure development," said CAC president and CEO Michael McSweeney.
"This incentive will help level the playing field for domestic producers of cement. It assists our company to ensure that good jobs stay and continue to be created in British Columbia," said Bob Cooper, vice president of Lafarge Western Canada. "Our competitiveness has been threatened by imports for the past five years and the move by the British Columbia government will also ensure that British Columbia has a long-term and secure local supply of made-in-British Columbia cement."
