The EU carbon tax can become an instrument for protecting domestic producers from the competitors in resource-producing countries with lower production costs, including Russia, China, and India. However, this is not as much a protectionist decision as it is a ideological solution setting a general trend for economy restructuring. It was set by the Kyoto Protocol of 1992 and the 2015 Paris Agreements. The world's corporations did their best to hold back the reform champions. The exact schedule for introducing greenhouse emission restrictions is permanently being discussed and adjusted. For example, in 2012 the European Union imposed charges for greenhouse gas emissions on non-European airlines, though later they suspended the decision.

European industrialists, in overall, also have already suffered from the EU's climate policy. Some manufacturers pay additional charges for greenhouse gas emissions since 2005 and

most importers have long since been preparing to operate under the new rules. For example, back in November 2016, China adopted its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Control Program under the 13th Five-Year Industrial Plan, which calls for a 18% reduction of CO₂ emissions per GDP unit by 2020 compared to 2015. Furthermore, China launched pilot projects of trading in CO₂ emission credits.