UK to defy 'carbon fee' on imports

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European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso raised the prospect that exporters in countries with lax emission controls could be required to buy EU carbon allowances if they want to trade in Europe.

The move is designed to ensure that firms in the EU - where climate change controls are tighter - are not put at a competitive disadvantage.

The proposal has caused anger in Washington, where the White House has already described it as a tariff barrier and warned that it would resist it.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks, interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, also expressed concern about the plan.

"We are against any measures which might look like trade barriers," he said.

"There is always the danger that the protectionists in Europe - and they do exist - could use this as a kind of secret weapon to bring about protectionism."

Mr Wicks said the UK would favour "a more sensitive approach", with allowances for European manufacturers so that they were not at a competitive disadvantage.