Jeff Rubin, chief strategist and economist at CIBC World Markets believes that tariffs on carbon emissions may come soon. And if carbon tariffs are imposed then countries with high greenhouse gas emissions will not be seen as good choices for manufacturing regardless of their low costs. So what does this mean? It means that we could see industries such as plastics, chemicals and steel leaving China and returning to America to set up operations.  

"For many industries that joined the exodus to the cheap labour markets of East Asia, imposing a carbon tariff means coming home," Mr. Rubin said. "Without such a tariff, the earnest efforts of [developed] countries to decarbonize their own economies would become absurdly quixotic in the face of the avalanche of emissions that will come from the rest of the world."Mr. Rubin has predicted that three results will occur once a carbon tariff is imposed. The first is that some industries (not all - do not expect textiles, toys or footwear) will re-locate to North America. The second is that some of the industries that leave high greenhouse gas producers will simply re-locate to countries with cheap labour but cleaner sources of energy (nuclear). And the third result is that by putting a price on carbon emissions it will moderate the world's use of energy. 

Read the full story at The Globe and Mail 

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