# Which Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) default value applies to imported hydrogen under Combined Nomenclature (CN) 2804 10 00, and how does it differ by country of production?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/cbam-hydrogen-default-value-by-country

For hydrogen the Commission lists 10.820 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per tonne for 79 of 95 countries, 14.030 for India and nine others, 26.640 for China and the United States, and 17.740 for other countries and territories. Direct emissions only, with no 50 tonne exemption.

## The groups in the file

- 79 countries at 10.820, including Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Egypt, Indonesia, Australia and Pakistan
- 10 countries at 14.030: Albania, Belarus, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Niger, the Philippines and Singapore
- Kuwait and Saudi Arabia at 13.450
- South Africa at 25.940
- China and the United States at 26.640, equal to the Annex IV value
- Other countries and territories at 17.740
- Mali at 0.000, as the file prints it. The file gives no reason, so do not read it as a general rule.

## What counts for hydrogen

Guidance No. 5b: in the definitive period hydrogen is listed in Annex II to the CBAM Regulation, a good for which only direct emissions are taken into account, so indirect emissions from electricity do not count. The file shows indirect emissions as N/A (not applicable).

Guidance No. 1: the de minimis exemption does not apply to imports of electricity or hydrogen, so even a small hydrogen import needs the full process.

## What this means for green hydrogen

Our reading: electrolysis on renewable power has very low direct emissions, but a default does not know that. India's 14.030 is higher than the 10.820 shown for 79 countries. Only a verified actual figure for the producing installation lets the importer use a lower number.

## Mark-up

Guidance No. 3: 10% in 2026, 20% in 2027 and 30% from 2028 onwards on listed default values.

## 100 tonnes of hydrogen imported in 2026 on default values

- India: 14.030 x 1.10 = 15.433 per tonne; x 100 = 1,543.3 tonnes of CO2e
- A country at 10.820: 10.820 x 1.10 = 11.902; x 100 = 1,190.2 tonnes
- Other countries and territories: 17.740 x 1.10 = 19.514; x 100 = 1,951.4 tonnes
- China or the United States: 26.640 x 1.10 = 29.304; x 100 = 2,930.4 tonnes

Our arithmetic from the Commission's listed values and the 10% mark-up for 2026. It shows embedded emissions before the free allocation adjustment and before any carbon price paid abroad.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, which is the plant-side data behind an actual figure. It does not set default values, it is not a CBAM verifier and it does not file declarations.

- [CBAM default value for hydrogen from India](https://senseible.earth/answers/cbam-default-value-india-hydrogen)
- [Electrolytic hydrogen: direct emissions only](https://senseible.earth/answers/cbam-electrolytic-hydrogen-direct-emissions-only)
- [Hydrogen import and the 50 tonne exemption](https://senseible.earth/answers/antwerp-hydrogen-imports-cbam-50-tonne-exemption)
- [Hydrogen as a precursor from electrolysis](https://senseible.earth/answers/cbam-hydrogen-from-electrolysis-as-precursor)
- [CBAM for Indian exporters](https://senseible.earth/cbam)

Sources: [European Commission, CBAM default values for the definitive period (Excel, version 2 of 6 August 2026), country sheets, Other Countries and Territories and Annex IV; legally binding values are in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1740 correcting (EU) 2025/2621](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/1c05d211-80cb-4aaa-8ef0-e08005a95d7e_en?filename=DV%20correcting%20act_final%20update_06.08.xlsx), [European Commission, Guidance No. 3, CBAM methods for the calculation of emissions embedded in goods (14 August 2026), section 4.10 on default values and mark-up](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/29b9eec7-1a4b-4eb6-ab85-96a0c9e35fd0_en?filename=Guidance%20No.%203%20-%20CBAM%20methods%20for%20the%20calculation%20of%20emissions%20embedded%20in%20goods.pdf), [European Commission, Guidance No. 5b, Sector-specific guidance document on hydrogen (14 August 2026)](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/04ceca3b-466e-4ed9-a1a5-a47c2e5e5be0_en?filename=Guidance%20No.%205b%20-%20Sector-specific%20guidance%20document%20on%20hydrogen.pdf), [European Commission, Guidance No. 1, Introduction to CBAM concepts, section 2.5 (de minimis exemption)](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/031abf60-21a9-4822-b258-ac8b111d8358_en?filename=Guidance%20No.%201%20-%20Introduction%20to%20CBAM%20concepts.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-06. Values are from version 2 of the Commission's file (6 August 2026). The Commission says the default values act will be revised in 2027 at the latest, so re-check each value before you quote it to a buyer.