This past week the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) held a vote to enact a global maritime carbon tax on all shipping vessels in the world. It would have been the first UN tax on member nations since the global body gave itself the power to tax the world in 2024.
The IMO's carbon tax would force every sea-going vessel to buy carbon credits from the IMO in two tiers based on size and carbon output over the UN's yearly target levels (net zero by 2050 being the target goal): Tier 1 carbon credits were to sell at $100/tons of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e) and Tier 2 at $380/tCO₂e.
The U.S. Department of State estimated that the global tax would raise prices on Americans by 10%.
On top of that, the tax would be enforced by member nations inspecting other nations' ships at ports.
If they said the ships were producing more carbon than allowed, they would collect the tax, and if it wasn't paid, they would have the authority to impound the ship.
The UN wants to use the money raised to first cover the funding President Trump pulled to keep paying for their rising global empire, and they planned on redistributing the rest to all the developing nations of the world (essentially buying their votes at the UN).
Of course, President Trump was not about to let any of this happen, and his administration announced the following fallout for any nation that helped pass or tried to enforce this ridiculous global tax:
Pursuing investigations and considering potential regulations to combat anti-competitive practices from certain flagged countries and potential blocking vessels registered in those countries from U.S. ports;
Imposing visa restrictions including an increase in fees and processing, mandatory re-interview requirements and/or revisions of quotas for C-1/D maritime crew member visas;
Imposing commercial penalties stemming from U.S. government contracts including new commercial ships, liquified natural gas terminals and infrastructure, and/or other financial penalties on ships flagged under nations in favor of the NZF;
Imposing additional port fees on ships owned, operated, or flagged by countries supporting the framework; and
Evaluating sanctions on officials sponsoring activist-driven climate policies that would burden American consumers, among other measures under consideration.
Needless to say, within two days of that announcement, what seemed like a sure "Yes" vote turned into a sure "No" vote.
And one of the rules at the UN is that if there is a "No" vote, the proposal cannot be reintroduced, so according to Reuters, the nations trying to push the tax moved for a "kick the can down the road" vote until next year.
So you know one thing is certain, the UN will be trying to tax us all again next year, and every year after that until the vote succeeds or they start World War III.
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