Government giving Serious Consideration To Climate Change Border Tax?

Trans Tasman today reports on the serious trouble the Government has found itself in on its climate change policies. It notes that Government is considering the shelving of plans to introduce mandatory biofuel usage targets and that major changes need to be made to the emissions trading bill. Included in the changes contemplated is a "a border tax on goods imported from countries which do not operate emissions trading schemes or other measures to limit greenhouse gases". This worries us here at The Hive. Such a tax, would at present not only risk retaliation (as TT notes) but would also we totally illegal in terms of our WTO and FTA commitments. It would risk undermining the credibility of these agreements. China and India would be the most obvious target for such a tax.