Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2675 actions· ✨ 91 recent

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published Communiqué No. 2026/17 in Resmî Gazete No. 33282 on 16 June 2026, imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of cold-rolled flat steel (excluding non-annealed), galvanized flat steel, and pre-painted flat steel originating in the People's Republic of China and South Korea, covering products under GTIP codes 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225, and 7226. The investigation — initiated under Communiqué No. 2024/41 of 25 December 2024 — found that dumped imports from both countries were causing material injury to domestic producers. Duty rates for Chinese exporters range from 22.37% (Angang Steel) to 32.40% (all-others CIF); South Korean rates range from 10.48% (POSCO) to 27.00% (all-others). The measure runs for five years from the date of publication, under Law No. 3577 on Prevention of Unfair Competition in Imports.

On 16 April 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC), the trade-remedy authority operating under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), issued a preliminary affirmative determination in its anti-dumping investigation of Chinese-origin zinc and zinc-alloy coated cold-rolled steel products (thickness <4.75mm; HS 7210/7212 and certain 7225/7226 codes), and recommended provisional anti-dumping duties of 22.34% (Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union), 26.28% (Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel), 33.67% (Winstone Development Ltd), and 25.75% (other Chinese suppliers). The duties remain in force pending a final determination expected around September 2026, with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to operationalise the rates by public notice. The investigation was petition-driven by Korean steelmakers (Dongkuk CM, KG Steel, SeAH CM) in November 2025, responding to a surge in Chinese galvanized cold-rolled imports following the US Section 232 50% steel tariff escalation that redirected Chinese supply to Korea and SE Asia.

On 23 February 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 461st plenary meeting adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against hot-rolled carbon and alloy steel (HRC) imports from China and Japan, recommending definitive five-year duties of 28.16–33.10% on Chinese-origin HRC and 31.58–33.57% on Japanese-origin HRC to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) for implementation via customs notification. The investigation was initiated in March 2024 on petition by Hyundai Steel, following December 2023 injury allegations, with provisional duties imposed in September 2025. KTC simultaneously recommended acceptance of price-undertaking commitments from three Japanese companies (including JFE Steel and Nippon Steel) and six Chinese companies (including Baosteel), allowing those exporters to avoid the definitive duties by maintaining minimum import-price levels; remaining non-participating exporters face the full duty rates under a five-year WTO ADA Article 11 sunset ending 2031.

Brazil's Câmara de Comércio Exterior (Gecex) published Resolução 857 in the Diário Oficial da União on 23 February 2026, reducing definitive anti-dumping duties on non-oriented electrical steel (aço GNO, NCM 7225.19.00 and 7226.19.00) originating in China, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Germany. The measure follows a public-interest evaluation (avaliação de interesse público) concluded by SECEX/DECOM, which found that applying the full investigation-recommended duty level would create steel supply shortfalls and net welfare losses of approximately US$2.19 million, given that sole domestic producer Aperam South America cannot meet total Brazilian demand. New specific duties — US$90/ton for major named Asian producers, US$132.50/ton for other Asian exporters, and US$166.32/ton for German producers — are set below the DECOM recommendation and remain in force for the remainder of the 5-year window established by Gecex 758 of 10 July 2025 (expiring ~July 2030).

On 4 February 2026, Argentina and the United States signed the Framework Instrument for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals at the inaugural FORGE Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, DC. The instrument commits both parties to cooperation across the critical-minerals supply chain — exploration, mining, processing, refining, and value-added manufacturing — with lithium and copper as the primary strategic targets given Argentina's position as the world's fourth-largest holder of lithium reserves and an emerging copper producer in the Salta, Catamarca, and San Juan provinces. The framework is one of eleven founding bilateral instruments signed simultaneously under the FORGE (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) architecture and operationalises the Trump-Milei strategic alignment as a binding supply-chain coordination instrument. Argentina's mining-export trajectory is projected to surpass USD 20bn over the next seven years under the combined RIGI + bilateral-framework investment pull.