CBAM CN codes. Every covered heading, explained.
One four-digit code on your customs paperwork decides whether your product owes the EU carbon border tax. This directory covers every CN heading that matters to Indian exporters — steel, aluminium, cement and fertilisers — with a dedicated page per code: what it covers, why the EU’s default values overshoot, and exactly what to do before your next shipment.
Your CN code decides your CBAM scope — not your product name.
CBAM does not ask what you call your product. It asks which Combined Nomenclature (CN) heading it clears EU customs under. The CN system is the EU’s version of the HS codes on your Indian shipping bill — the first six digits match — and the CBAM regulation lists covered goods code by code. A “bracket” and a “fastener” can be the same part; what matters is whether it clears under CN 7326 or CN 7318. Both are covered.
Since the definitive phase began on 1 January 2026 (after transitional reporting from 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2025), every covered import requires the EU buyer’s Authorised Declarant to surrender CBAM certificates against the goods’ embedded emissions. Certificates track the EU ETS price — roughly €70–80 per tonne of CO₂ in 2026.
When no verified data exists, the EU applies default values — deliberately conservative figures that overshoot most real Indian production, with a markup that escalates from 10% in 2026 to 30% by 2028 for steel and aluminium. Verified actuals typically cut the CBAM cost by up to ~40%. That is the choice each code page below walks you through.
The steel exporter’s arithmetic
Indian BF-BOF actuals typically land around 2.1–2.2 tCO₂/t, but the defaults applied sit far higher — in the 3.5–5.0+ tCO₂/t range. On defaults, CBAM costs run roughly €250–270 per tonne of Indian BF-route steel versus roughly €65–170 on verified actuals — about €80,000–€180,000 on a single 1,000-tonne consignment.
A note on default values: the EU publishes specific default values per goods category separately, and they change. We deliberately don’t reprint per-code numbers here — each code page explains the emission story qualitatively, and the CBAM calculator gives you a current cost estimate for your product.
Every CBAM-covered CN code, grouped by chapter
Click any code for the full picture: scope, emission profile, what to do, and the questions exporters actually ask about that heading.
Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, hot-rolled, width ≥ 600 mm, not clad, plated or coated
Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, cold-rolled, width ≥ 600 mm, not clad, plated or coated
Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, width ≥ 600 mm, clad, plated or coated
Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularly wound coils, of iron or non-alloy steel
Other bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel, hot-rolled, hot-drawn or hot-extruded
Other bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel (cold-formed, cold-finished or further worked)
Angles, shapes and sections of iron or non-alloy steel
Flat-rolled products of stainless steel, width ≥ 600 mm
Other bars and rods of stainless steel; angles, shapes and sections of stainless steel
Other bars and rods of other alloy steel; angles, shapes and sections of other alloy steel
Tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, seamless, of iron (other than cast iron) or steel
Other tubes and pipes (e.g. welded, riveted), external diameter > 406.4 mm, of iron or steel
Other tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, welded, of iron or steel
Tube or pipe fittings (e.g. couplings, elbows, sleeves), of iron or steel
Structures and parts of structures, of iron or steel (bridges, towers, columns, roofs, doors, windows)
Tanks, casks, drums, cans and similar containers of iron or steel, capacity ≤ 300 litres
Stranded wire, ropes, cables, plaited bands and slings, of iron or steel, not electrically insulated
Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, washers and similar articles, of iron or steel
Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof, of iron or steel
Other cast articles of iron or steel
Other articles of iron or steel
Unwrought aluminium
Aluminium bars, rods and profiles
Aluminium wire
Aluminium plates, sheets and strip, thickness > 0.2 mm
Aluminium foil, thickness ≤ 0.2 mm
Aluminium tubes and pipes
Aluminium structures and parts of structures (doors, windows, frames, curtain walls)
Other articles of aluminium
CN codes and CBAM, in plain English
What is a CN code and how do I find mine?
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Which CN codes are covered by CBAM?
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What happens if my CN code is covered and I do nothing?
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My exact 8-digit code isn’t listed here. Is it still covered?
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Do these obligations fall on me, the Indian exporter, or on my EU buyer?
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Found your code? We’ll handle the rest.
CarbonSettle runs your entire CBAM end to end — boundary mapping, data collection from documents you already keep, supplier chase, verified actuals, declarant handoff. We cover your first report (April–June 2026) so an inflated EU default never costs you an order. Continue only if you choose to.
Free for the April–June 2026 quarter — start your report by 30 September 2026.