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Carbon transfer in international trade has triggered disputes on environmental equity between developed and developing countries. Hence, it is urgent to make it clear the carbon transfer process of international trade between China and the United States, explore the adjustment plan of emission reduction responsibility and formulate targeted emission reduction measures. These will play an important leading and demonstration effect in addressing global warming and coordinating international carbon reduction. This study built a CO 2 international trade transfer network model of China and the United States. Based on identifying the carbon transfer path flowing from primary product sector to final production sector, and then to final consumption, we analyzed the industrial association relationship and distribution differences between China and the United States with external countries and regions. Lastly, we put forward emission reduction policy implication in industrial scale. The key paths of China and the United States are concentrated in the two export and import transfer types respectively. Among the key paths of China's bilateral primary production export type, paths from domestic Electricity, Gas and Water to foreign Construction accounted for the largest 40% share. As for the United States, transfer type of bilateral final production import is the most prominent, and path number and flow from foreign Transport to domestic Public Administration both accounted for more than 30%. Based on shared responsibility to adjust the emission reduction tasks under the Paris Agreement, China and the US will allow to emit 10% more and reduce 6% more, reaching 54% and 25% respectively. Taking into full consideration the national economic development level and the differences in the production technology level of industrial sectors, as well as the upstream and downstream related sectors' relationship, the refined emission reduction strategy is proposed from different aspects, such as technical assistance, financial support, import control, technology sharing and consumption transformation. • CO 2 transfer patterns are divided. • Industrial flows are analyzed. • Mitigation pathways are raised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nine cross border CO 2 transfer types are been divided based on geographical features. • Each path consists of primary & final production sectors and final consumption. • Path analysis results can serve for further precise mitigation plans. CO 2 transfers induced by international trade account for nearly a quarter of total CO 2 emissions, becoming the hotspots of global carbon mitigation. However, current analysis paid little attention to the spatial characteristics and multiple roles of the international sector, making it difficult to serve mitigation policies quantitatively. In this study, we built a CO 2 transfer framework, in which the path flowed through the primary production sector, final production sector, and final consumption. We considered the domestic and foreign location differentiation to divide import and export transfers into nine spatial patterns. We figured out critical paths that influenced the total exports and imports, respectively, traced their temporal variation as well. Primary production export and import transfers with single foreign countries were the most significant transfer types in China and the United States, respectively, both with an average share of about 35%. In the key export and import paths, Transportation in the United States, and Electricity, Gas, and Water in China (both accounting for about half of the total export transfers) acting as primary production sectors had close export connections with foreign Electrical and Machinery sectors and Construction; the US's Public Administration and the China's Construction (about 1/4 and 1/3 of the total import transfers) acting as final production sector had close import associations with foreign Transportation sectors and Electricity, Gas and Water sectors, respectively. The results can lay a foundation for further macro mitigation regulation and precise sectoral reduction plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The final consumption of the United States and China strongly affects global greenhouse gas emission. We analyzed the amount of CO 2 transfers by the two countries caused by final consumption and its structural distribution from 1993 to 2013. We identified the key domestic and foreign sectors and transfer paths among the sectors that contributed most to final consumption. The total consumption-based transfer quantity increased to 1.2 and 3.6 times the 1993 value for the United States and China, respectively, whose domestic production and consumption were around 75 and 90% of the total, respectively. The key domestic sectors in both countries were the Electricity, Gas, and Water sector, the Transportation sector, and the Petroleum, Chemical, and Non-Metallic Mineral Products sector, which each accounted for 20–30% of the total. Among the domestic transfer paths, the American Electricity, Gas, and Water sector and Transportation sector, and China's Construction sector, had the most connections to other sectors. We identified frequent contributions of foreign sectors to final consumption in both countries. Their dominant transfers were to the American Public Administration sector and Education, Health, and Other Services sector, and to China's Construction sector. Understanding these key sectors and the paths among them can provide the scientific basis for improved national emission mitigation plans. • We focused on the CO 2 transfer of the United States and China from 1993 to 2013. • We decomposed the consumption-based CO 2 in four structural parts. • We presented industrial and path features domestically and abroad of these two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]