US creates climate and trade task force to address commerce, manufacturing emissions

By Nicole Jao and Shariq Khan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. will create a new trade task force aimed at reducing carbon emissions from global commerce and manufacturing, White House senior adviser John Podesta said at a conference on Tuesday.

The new task force will focus on addressing carbon leakage, carbon dumping, and emissions associated with upstream manufacturing and production, he said, speaking at an event at Columbia University in New York City.

The task force development comes as the U.S. is aiming to expand its deployment of clean energy technology and manufacturing domestically amid growing competition from China.

"Global trading rules incentivize carbon leakage - when manufacturing-related emissions from a country with stronger climate policies shift to a country with weaker policies," said Podesta, the incoming U.S. climate change diplomat.

He pointed to China, where over half of the world's aluminum is made. The manufacturing process for an average ton of aluminum there produces 60% more emissions than it does in the U.S., he said.

The task force will also ensure carbon emissions data is available for implementing U.S. climate and trade policies, including taking steps to promote common measurement and high standards on life cycle emissions, he said, emphasizing the group will deepen its dialogue with the United Kingdom, Australia, the European Union and other partners and allies from around the world.

"We will work closely with trade partners to develop standardized and authoritative ways of measuring embodied emissions so that each country can harness comparative advantages in clean manufacturing," he said, referencing the emissions generated from the production to the delivery of a good.

Podesta will replace John Kerry as the U.S.' top climate envoy.

(Reporting by Nicole Jao and Shariq Khan in New York; Editing by Liz Hampton)