When U.S. lawmakers recently approved legislation to limit U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, it was widely hailed as an important new step in confronting climate change. Under the Bush administration, the United States refused to join other industrialized nations in capping emissions, arguing that to do so would add unfair costs to business and blunt its competitive edge.

But the applause for the Obama administration and the Democratic Party in pushing for a cap-and-trade law in Congress has since diminished as critics scrutinize the details. One provision that has caused concern was slipped in shortly before the House of Representatives passed the bill on June 26.

It requires the president, from 2020 onward, to impose special import taxes on goods from countries that have not enacted and enforced similar cap-and-trade controls on their global warming emissions. Only Congress can authorize the president to waive the imposition of tariffs. With economies around the world still weak, credit tight and international trade shrinking, the prospect of protectionism spreading in many different forms alarms trade-dependent Asian nations. China has condemned the U.S. for resorting to "trade protectionism in the disguise of environmental protection" while India says it is "pernicious" to use climate change as a nontariff barrier.