The CBAM 50-Tonne De Minimis Exemption: Who's Off the Hook, and the Traps That Catch People Who Assume They Are
If you import small amounts of steel, aluminium, cement, or fertilisers into the EU, there is a good chance you no longer have any CBAM obligations at all. The 2025 Omnibus simplification introduced a genuine, meaningful exemption - and it covers the vast majority of importers by headcount.
But the exemption comes with rules that are easy to misread. Get them wrong and you can find yourself retroactively on the hook for an entire year's worth of CBAM compliance - not just the imports that pushed you over the line. This post explains exactly how the threshold works, who it covers, and the specific traps to watch for.
What changed, and when
On 20 October 2025, Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 of the European Parliament and of the Council entered into force, marking the first formal revision of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Following its publication in the EU Official Journal on 17 October, the regulation amended Regulation (EU) 2023/956 - the original CBAM Regulation.
Introduced as part of the "Omnibus I" legislative initiatives, the simplification measures are designed to enhance CBAM's effectiveness in preventing carbon leakage while minimising the impact on small importers and exporters. The CBAM de minimis exemption is the centrepiece of that simplification.
Most notably, the former de minimis exemption of €150 per consignment has been replaced with a mass-based threshold of 50 tonnes. That is not a small tweak. The old rule was per shipment and based on customs value - a threshold so narrow it caught many routine small importers. The new rule is annual, mass-based, and genuinely designed to let small-volume importers step back from the regulation entirely.
The rule in plain English
The previous €150-per-shipment trigger is replaced by a 50-tonne annual threshold per importer. Importers whose total yearly imports of CBAM goods - cement, fertilisers, iron and steel, and aluminium - do not exceed 50 tonnes are now exempt from CBAM reporting, declaration, and certificate-surrender obligations.
Three things to hold in your head:
- Annual, not per shipment. The clock resets on 1 January each year. You add up every CBAM-covered import across the whole calendar year.
- Per importer, not per product. The new 50-tonne threshold refers to the mass of CBAM goods imported per year and applies per importer - i.e., each legal entity holding its own EORI number.
- Cumulative across all covered sectors. The 50-tonne threshold operates on an annual aggregate basis across all CBAM good types imported by a single legal entity. An importer who brings in 30 tonnes of steel products and 25 tonnes of cement products in the same calendar year totals 55 tonnes combined and falls above the threshold, with full CBAM obligations applying for the year.
Net mass, not gross. The threshold is measured in net mass — the weight of the goods themselves, excluding packaging. Make sure your customs data is pulling the right field. Gross weight figures will overstate your position and could cause unnecessary alarm (or, if you're using them to check compliance, false reassurance in the other direction).
How big is the exemption in practice?
Substantial. The amendments introduce a de minimis threshold that will exempt approximately 90% of importers from the regulation's compliance obligations, whilst ensuring approximately 99% of embedded emissions in imported goods remain within scope. This measure is expected to exempt approximately 182,000 importers, mostly SMEs and individuals, while still covering over 99% of emissions in scope.
The logic is deliberate: the 50-tonne threshold is calibrated so that at least 99% of embedded emissions in imported CBAM goods remain covered, even though the vast majority of importers by number fall below it. The Commission can adjust the mass-based threshold annually if trade patterns or emission intensities change significantly. So the 50-tonne figure is not permanently fixed - but any change would require a delegated act and would apply from 1 January of the following year.
The two sectors that are never exempt
Here is the single most important carve-out to know: hydrogen and electricity are excluded from the de minimis exemption entirely.
Two exclusions apply to the 50-tonne rule: electricity and hydrogen have no de minimis threshold regardless of import volume. Electricity and hydrogen are subject to the CBAM regardless of the quantity imported and thus without the application of a threshold value.
If you import any quantity of electricity or hydrogen from a non-exempt third country, you are in scope for CBAM - full stop. There is no minimum volume, no annual accumulation to track. The obligation applies from the first unit.
| Sector | Covered by CBAM? | De minimis applies? | Exempt below 50 t/year? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron & steel | Yes | Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Aluminium | Yes | Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Cement | Yes | Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Fertilisers | Yes | Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Hydrogen | Yes | No | ❌ Never |
| Electricity | Yes | No | ❌ Never |
The all-or-nothing trap
This is the rule that catches people who are monitoring their imports but not monitoring them carefully enough.
The CBAM threshold operates on an "all or nothing" basis. Once the cumulative 50-tonne limit is exceeded at any point during a calendar year, full CBAM obligations apply to all relevant imports from 1 January of that year - not just to volumes above the threshold. This mechanism creates a significant regulatory risk, particularly for businesses with fluctuating or unexpectedly increasing import volumes.
Read that again: if you import 48 tonnes in January through October and then bring in a further 5 tonnes in November, your entire year's imports - all 53 tonnes - become subject to CBAM. You cannot simply pay for the excess 3 tonnes and walk away.
If the importer did not expect to exceed the threshold at the beginning of the year, but does so during the year, CBAM obligations apply retroactively to all emissions embedded in goods imported since the beginning of that calendar year.
The practical consequence: importers expecting to exceed the threshold must apply for authorised CBAM declarant status before doing so. Importers and indirect customs representatives who submitted an application for authorisation by 31 March 2026 may continue importing goods in 2026, even after exceeding the threshold, pending the decision on granting authorisation. If you missed that March 2026 window and are now approaching the threshold, you need to apply before the import that would push you over.
Importers exceeding the 50-tonne limit without authorisation will face financial penalties, though payment of the fine will discharge further obligations for that year. That is a narrow escape hatch, not a strategy.
Anti-circumvention: don't split shipments to stay under
The regulation anticipated the obvious workaround. The regulation has broadened the scope of circumvention to include artificially splitting imports, including non-genuine arrangements to avoid exceeding the single mass threshold. The European Commission and national authorities will monitor import flows to prevent circumvention practices such as shipment splitting and may revise the exemption threshold via delegated acts if emissions or trade volumes shift significantly.
Splitting a single commercial order across multiple smaller consignments to stay below 50 tonnes is not a compliance strategy - it is a circumvention risk.
What "per EORI" actually means for your business
The threshold applies per legal entity with its own EORI number. That sounds simple, but it has real implications:
- Group structures: If your parent company and a subsidiary each hold their own EORI numbers, each has its own 50-tonne threshold. But if one entity imports on behalf of another under a single EORI, all those imports count together.
- Indirect customs representatives: Authorised declarants may delegate the filing of CBAM declarations to EU-established third parties holding an EORI number, but remain responsible for compliance. Indirect customs representatives acting in that capacity will also assume the same obligations and potential penalties.
- Multiple product types: As noted above, your 50-tonne budget is shared across all CBAM sectors. Steel and aluminium and cement all count toward the same annual total.
If you're near the line: what to do now
Being close to 50 tonnes is not a comfortable place to be without a plan. Here is what to do:
- Pull your year-to-date customs data and calculate cumulative net mass of all CBAM-covered goods (iron & steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers) imported under your EORI number since 1 January.
- Project forward based on your purchasing pipeline. If you are likely to exceed 50 tonnes before year-end, treat yourself as in-scope now.
- Apply for authorised CBAM declarant status via the CBAM Registry before the import that would push you over the threshold. The application goes through your national competent authority (NCA) and typically takes around 120 days to assess - so do not leave it until the last shipment.
- Check your group structure. If multiple entities in your group import CBAM goods, confirm which EORI numbers are active and whether any of them are approaching the threshold independently.
- Hydrogen and electricity importers: skip the threshold check entirely - you are in scope regardless of volume.
Quick self-check: are you exempt?
Run through these four questions before assuming you have nothing to do:
- Step 1 - Sum your annual net mass. Add up all imports of iron & steel, aluminium, cement, and fertilisers under your EORI number for the calendar year. Use net mass, not gross.
- Step 2 - Check per EORI. The threshold applies per legal entity. If you operate under multiple EORI numbers, check each one separately.
- Step 3 - Hydrogen and electricity? If you import either of these from a non-exempt country in any quantity, you are in scope. The de minimis does not apply to them.
- Step 4 - Are you near 50 tonnes? If your cumulative total is approaching the threshold, start your authorised declarant application now - before the import that would push you over. The all-or-nothing rule means the cost of being caught unprepared is your entire year's CBAM liability, not just the excess.
If you clear all four steps and your annual total stays comfortably below 50 tonnes, you are genuinely off the hook for this year. Keep monitoring - import volumes change, and the threshold is reviewed annually by the Commission.
