France accounted for 6.5% of the EU’s extra-EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)-code import value in 2025, equivalent to about 7.2 billion euros based on the rounded reporting-country share. The figure measures import value, not a uniform CBAM burden for products or companies.
The reported imports include aluminium, steel, fertilisers, cement and clinker. France’s customs share is smaller than Italy’s or Germany’s, although its industrial exposure extends to aerospace, automobiles, engineering, construction and agriculture, sectors that use products whose costs and supplier mix can be influenced by the mechanism.
Supply chains extend beyond importers
An aluminium supply chain can run from a non-EU smelter through a European rolling or extrusion plant to a French aircraft or vehicle producer. Constellium has publicly disclosed an aerospace supply relationship with Airbus, but this does not establish that primary metal imported from a particular origin went into any identified aerospace component. The same limitation applies when tracing imported steel to car plants or structural projects.
For fertilisers, a wholesaler or agricultural supply group may be the initial importer, with farmers or cooperatives typically using the product. Cement and clinker can pass through grinding operations, terminals and concrete manufacturers before reaching construction contractors. Cementir has published information on Egyptian white-cement exports to France; the importer of record and final concrete buyer require separate verification.
Customs data do not capture all exposure
Assessment requires separating domestic production, intra-EU sourcing and direct non-EU imports. A French manufacturer buying metal from a German distributor may be economically exposed without making a direct CBAM declaration, while a French declarant may import goods and resell them elsewhere in the EU. An industrial-beneficiary study therefore cannot stop at national customs entries.
A company map could combine product-level customs data with aerospace and automotive supplier disclosures, metal processors, agricultural distributors and cement terminals. For each chain, it could record the foreign production site, industrial conversion stage, final buyer and pricing mechanism. Such a map could help banks and manufacturers test supplier switching, carbon-price scenarios and contractual pass-through, rather than assuming all imports carry an identical burden.