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By Jonathan Saul, Michelle Nichols and Kate Abnett
LONDON (Reuters) -The United States has withdrawn from talks in London looking at advancing decarbonisation in the shipping sector and Washington will consider "reciprocal measures" to offset any fees charged to U.S. ships, according to a diplomatic note seen by Reuters.
Delegates are at the U.N. shipping agency's headquarters this week for negotiations over decarbonisation measures aimed at enabling the global shipping industry to reach net zero by "around 2050".
A State Department spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that Washington would not be "engaging in negotiations" at the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO), adding that it was the administration's policy to put U.S. interests first in the "development and negotiation of any international agreements".
An initial proposal by a bloc of countries including the European Union, which was submitted to the IMO, had sought to reach agreement for the world’s first carbon levy for shipping on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
"The U.S. rejects any and all efforts to impose economic measures against its ships based on GHG emissions or fuel choice," according to a diplomatic demarche sent to ambassadors by the United States on Tuesday.
"For these reasons the U.S. is not engaging in negotiations at the IMO 3rd Marine Environment Protection Committee from 7-11 April and urges your government to reconsider its support for the GHG emissions measures under consideration."
It was not clear how many of the IMO's 176-member countries received the note. The IMO had not yet received any communication, an IMO spokesperson said on Wednesday.
"Should such a blatantly unfair measure go forward, our government will consider reciprocal measures so as to offset any fees charged to U.S. ships and compensate the American people for any other economic harm from any adopted GHG emissions measures," the note from Washington said.
Washington also opposed "any proposed measure that would fund any unrelated environmental or other projects outside the shipping sector", the note added.
Shipping, which transports around 90% of world trade and accounts for nearly 3% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, has faced calls from environmentalists and investors to deliver more concrete action, including a carbon levy.
IMO discussions continued on Wednesday despite the move by the U.S., delegates involved said.
"The U.S. is one of 176 IMO member states. While their impact on this process is considerable, we cannot afford to let a squall from one nation blow all of us off course," said Albon Ishoda, the Marshall Islands special envoy for maritime decarbonisation.
"In this time of instability in the markets, a clear direction from this IMO meeting is needed more than ever. We are going to continue negotiating with those that are prepared to talk."
China and Brazil are among a number of countries that opposed a flat carbon levy on shipping as they argued it would penalise trade reliant emerging economies.
In January, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement for a second time, placing the world's top historic emitter of greenhouse gases outside the global pact aimed at pushing nations to tackle climate change.
(Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Michelle Nichols, Gram Slattery, Kate Abnett and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Chizu Nomiyama and Nia Williams)
