Restriction on exports of aluminium waste

On 19 December 2025, the Commission announced a plan to restrict exports of aluminium waste .

According to the Commission, exports of aluminium scrap are pushing up aluminium prices, as the main buyers of this scrap benefit from unfair subsidies from their countries. The Commission sees this as sufficient reason to intervene in order to secure the domestic supply of aluminium and reduce its price.

To achieve this goal, the Commission is relying in part on the restrictions voted in April 2024, which will gradually come into force from 21 May 2026 . It is also counting on a practice that has been banned from the political arsenal of developed countries for decades: export duties.

Export duties as an instrument of EU trade policy

The idea of imposing export duties for the ‘well-being’ of a nation is not new. Adam Smith spoke of it in these terms in 1776: “As a result of these popular ideas, all the different nations of Europe have endeavoured, albeit without much success, to find every possible means of accumulating gold and silver in their respective countries. Spain and Portugal, owners of the main mines that supply Europe with these metals, have prohibited their exportation under the most severe penalties, or have subjected it to enormous duties. It appears that the same prohibition was formerly part of the policy of most other nations of Europe. It is even found where one would least expect it, in some ancient acts of the Scottish Parliament, which prohibit, under heavy penalties, the transport of gold and silver out of the kingdom. The same policy was also pursued in the past in France and England“. (Adam Smith, 1776, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations – Book IV).

The European Union has never applied export duties, although it has reserved the right to do so in its founding texts.

Export duties are therefore an integral part of the instruments that the Union can use to defend its common commercial policy, as stated in Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU):

Article 207 :

“1. The common commercial policy shall be based on uniform principles, in particular with regard to tariff modifications, the conclusion of tariff and trade agreements relating to trade in goods and services, and the commercial aspects of intellectual property, foreign direct investment, the standardisation of liberalisation measures, export policy, and trade defence measures, including those to be taken in the event of dumping and subsidies. The common commercial policy shall be conducted within the framework of the principles and objectives of the Union’s external action.”

Export duties also occupy a prominent place in the Union Customs Code , which specifies their rules of application in Article 56:

” Article 56: Import or export duties payable shall be based on the Common Customs Tariff.

Other measures provided for by specific Union provisions in the context of trade in goods shall, where applicable, be applied in accordance with the tariff classification of those goods”.

Export customs duties in WTO agreements

The WTO Agreements mention export duties but do not focus on them specifically, as their primary objective is to facilitate imports.

Export duties must simply comply with the most-favoured-nation principle (Article I of the GATT 1994) and apply uniformly to all export trading partners:

“Article I 1) GATT: Any advantages, favours, privileges or immunities granted by a contracting party to a product originating in or destined for any other country shall be extended immediately and unconditionally to any similar product originating in or destined for the territory of all other contracting parties. This provision applies to customs duties and charges of any kind levied on imports or exports or in connection with imports or exports […]”.

They must also comply with the obligation of transparency (Article X of the GATT 1994). Laws, regulations and administrative decisions relating to the application of customs duties and export restrictions must therefore be published within a reasonable time frame to enable governments and economic operators to familiarise themselves with them:

” Article X GATT: laws, regulations, judicial and administrative decisions of general application made enforceable by any contracting party that relate to the classification or valuation of goods for customs purposes, rates of customs duties, taxes and other charges, or requirements, restrictions or prohibitions relating to importation or exportation, or the transfer of payments relating thereto, or that affect the sale, distribution, transport, insurance, storage, inspection, exhibition, processing, mixing or any other use of such goods shall be published as soon as possible in such a manner as to enable governments and traders to become acquainted with them […]”.

Export customs duties as a guarantee or neutrality on the international stage

Using export duties rather than direct subsidies to European industry offers a strategic legal advantage.

A subsidy paid to European industry would expose its production to sanctions, as destination countries could legitimately impose anti-dumping duties on products that have benefited from subsidies.

In this context, reconfiguring the European industry’s raw materials market by restricting its exports seems more subtle and less open to criticism.

Export customs duties as a solution to the European industry’s problem?

With no market abroad, aluminium waste will remain on the European marketplace, inevitably driving down the price of aluminium. This price drop will certainly please European industries that consume aluminium, but it will also impoverish the waste collection and treatment industry depending of exports, especially if aluminium continues to be imported from non-EU countries without major restrictions (to date, the CBAM represents only a very small financial burden: 8.25 CBAM certificates to be returned in 2026 per 100 tonnes of aluminium imported from China, or approximately €660). Ultimately, the latter will have no choice but to pass on the cost to local communities and persons placing aluminium products on the market, and ultimately to European consumers.

Like any interventionist policy, the Commission’s proposal does not avoid the risk of solving one problem… at the cost of creating another.

by Evguenia DEREVIANKINE , founding partner,

and Matthieu LEVASSEUR , legal assistant

12 January 2026