European Commission Corrects Definitive CBAM Default Values via Regulation (EU) 2026/1740

The European Commission has officially published Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1740, providing an immediate and retroactive correction to the definitive CBAM default values initially established for 2026.

This regulation completely replaces Annex I and Annex IV of the original default value rules (Regulation 2025/2621) to fix critical omissions, transcription errors, and missing production route indicators that were causing incorrect calculations for the free allocation adjustment.

Because the corrections are vital for calculating the actual number of certificates importers must surrender in 2027, the regulation entered into force on August 3, 2026, and applies retroactively from January 1, 2026.

Key corrections and structural changes introduced by the regulation include:

• Production Route Indicators: Fixed missing or incorrect production route identifiers (such as differentiating blast furnace steel from electric arc furnace steel), which are strictly required to determine the correct CBAM benchmark and subsequent free allocation deductions.

• TARIC Code Specificity: Added precise TARIC codes to accurately distinguish between white clinker/cement and grey clinker/cement, and restricted kaolinic clay to only cover calcined kaolinic clay (TARIC 2507 00 80 80).

• Data Transcription Fixes: Corrected erroneously transcribed default values and CN codes for multiple regions, including missing precursor values for aluminum, and reinstated missing country data for nations like Albania, Guatemala, and Zambia.

• Dynamic Mark-up Calculations: To prevent mathematical rounding errors, the Commission has deleted the pre-computed columns that showed the final marked-up default values for 2026, 2027, and 2028. Moving forward, the final default values (including the punitive 10% to 30% mark-ups for major sectors and 1% for fertilizers) will be calculated dynamically directly within the CBAM Registry based strictly on the "total emissions" base value.

"Rounding rules have been applied when determining the default values. In order to avoid potential inconsistencies as a result of rounding, the columns with default values that include mark-ups in all the tables for 2026, 2027 and 2028 in Annexes I and IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621 should be deleted... The final default values that include the mark-ups should then be calculated within the CBAM Registry..."

Importers who have been using the original default values for any internal cost modeling or supply chain pricing for 2026 imports must immediately transition to this corrected dataset to ensure accurate compliance and cost projections.