A Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is an emerging bipartisan tool that aims to cut global pollution and support American industry A CBAM is a fee applied to products upon entry or imports that accounts for the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted during their production in their country of origin. When in place, these fees can improve domestic industries’ global competitiveness against cheaper, higher-polluting imports and prevent producers from flocking to countries that lack environmental protections. A CBAM can be designed as a permissible import fee under the World Trade Organization. To be clear, it is not a carbon tax. In fact, a CBAM in the United States would make domestic steel and aluminum more cost-competitive and help producers capture an additional $8.5 billion and $6 billion of their respective markets by 2030.

The expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) included in the bipartisan Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act would help lift nearly half a million kids out of poverty nationally next year and will benefit close to 140,000 kids in New Mexico alone in the first year, according to estimates from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The expanded credit will be especially impactful in rural areas, where it will help 51,000 kids living in rural parts of New Mexico, or nearly 1 in 3 of all rural kids living the state.