Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2662 actions· ✨ 89 recent

On June 2, 2026, USTR published final actionability findings in 60 parallel Section 301(b) investigations — the largest simultaneous Section 301 action in US history — determining that all 60 economies maintain unreasonable acts, policies, or practices by failing to impose or effectively enforce a prohibition on imports produced with forced labor. USTR proposed two additional duty rates: 10% on the 14 economies with partial forced-labor regimes (Canada, Ecuador, EU, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Taiwan, UK) and 12.5% on the remaining 46 economies. Tariff rates remain proposed pending a July 7, 2026 public hearing and subsequent finalization; the actionability determination is final.

On 2 April 2026 President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ("Adjusting Imports of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Ingredients into the United States") imposing a 100% ad valorem tariff on imports of patented pharmaceutical products listed in the FDA Orange Book and Purple Book, together with the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and key starting materials used to make them. The base rate takes effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on 31 July 2026 for the 17 manufacturers identified in Annex III, and on 29 September 2026 for all other companies. The proclamation adopts findings of the Section 232 investigation initiated by the Department of Commerce on 14 April 2025 into pharmaceuticals and APIs as a national- security supply-chain risk. The instrument is structured around a multi-tier rate ladder rather than a flat tariff: concessionary 15% rates for EU/Japan/South Korea/Switzerland/Liechtenstein under reciprocal-deal tracks, 10% for the UK with a pathway to 0% under the pending UK pharmaceutical agreement, a "+20%" surcharge for companies operating under a Commerce-approved onshoring plan (until 2 April 2030), and a 0% pathway for companies that combine an approved onshoring plan with an MFN-pricing agreement with HHS (until 20 January 2029). Generics, biosimilars and their ingredients, orphan drugs, nuclear medicines, plasma-derived therapies, fertility treatments, and cell/gene therapies are carved out.

On 11 March 2026 USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer initiated parallel Section 301 investigations into the acts, policies, and practices of 16 economies — China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India — relating to structural excess capacity and overproduction in manufacturing sectors. The Federal Register notice (FR doc 2026-05214; dockets USTR-2026-0067 and USTR-2026-0068) was published on 17 March 2026. Covered sectors include aluminum, automobiles, batteries, cement, chemicals, electronics, energy goods, glass, machine tools, machinery, paper, plastics, processed food and beverages, robotics, satellites, semiconductors, ships, solar modules, steel, and transportation equipment. Written comments were due by 15 April 2026; USTR held the public hearing beginning 5 May 2026. This is the most sweeping multi-economy Section 301 initiative since the 2018 China investigation and is structurally distinct from the China-only 2024-05-14 §301 tariff hikes and the 2025-07-15 Brazil §301 investigation.

On 25 February 2026 the Swiss Federal Council adopted extensive amendments to the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (Ukraine Ordinance) and the Ordinance on Measures against Belarus, completing implementation of the EU's 19th sanctions package with effect from 26 February 2026. Headline measures: a complete ban on the purchase and import of Russian LNG taking effect 25 April 2026 (transition period until end-2026 for pre-existing long-term contracts); a complete prohibition on the provision of crypto-asset services to Russian persons and companies; new service bans covering advanced-technology / AI / high-performance-computing services and tourism-related services; expansion of the dual-use end-user list (Annex 2) including additional Chinese entities; SECO authority to grant divestment-exemption licences until end-2026 under Art. 30a; and parallel adoption of the EU October 2025 Belarus measures via amendment to the Belarus Ordinance.

President Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation on 20 February 2026 invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2132) to impose a temporary 10% ad-valorem import surcharge on articles imported into the United States, effective 12:01 a.m. EST on 24 February 2026. The proclamation was issued within hours of the US Supreme Court's 20 February 2026 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to set tariffs and vacated the IEEPA-based reciprocal-tariff regime previously in effect. The Section 122 surcharge is statutorily limited to 150 days (terminates 24 July 2026 absent Congressional extension) and the statute caps any such surcharge at 15% ad valorem. Goods qualifying as USMCA originating from Canada or Mexico are exempt; CAFTA-DR textile/apparel articles meeting specified rules of origin are exempt; and a substantial product-exception list excludes critical minerals, energy products, certain pharmaceuticals, electronics, vehicles, aerospace products, specified agricultural goods, and goods already subject to Section 232 duties (the Section 122 duty does not stack on Section 232).

On 29 January 2026 Switzerland's Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (WBF) amended Annex 28 of the Ordinance on Measures Relating to the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), lowering the price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil from USD 47.6 to USD 44.1 per barrel, effective 1 February 2026. The amendment prohibits Swiss-domiciled operators from providing financial and transport (maritime, insurance, brokering) services related to Russian crude oil priced above the new cap. Switzerland is not an EU member but autonomously aligns its Ukraine Ordinance with EU sanctions packages; this cut mirrors the EU's Implementing Regulation 2026/124 and the UK OFSI general licence amendment adopted two weeks earlier under the same six-monthly dynamic-adjustment formula.

On 19 December 2025 the Swiss Federal Assembly adopted in final vote the Federal Act on the Screening of Foreign Investments (Bundesgesetz über die Prüfung ausländischer Investitionen, Investitionsprüfgesetz / IPG; popularly the "Lex China", parliamentary business 22.035). The Act introduces Switzerland's first general ex-ante FDI-screening regime: acquisitions of control over Swiss companies active in security-critical sectors by foreign state-controlled investors require prior approval by SECO, with escalation to the Federal Council. The optional- referendum window runs until 17 April 2026; entry into force is not expected before 2027 once implementing ordinances are adopted. Critical sectors named in the Act include military and dual-use goods, electricity grids and generation, water supply, pharma and health, telecommunications, transport infrastructure and financial-market infrastructure.

On 12 December 2025 the Swiss Federal Council adopted the first tranche of listings aligning with the EU's 19th Russia sanctions package (Council Regulation (EU) 2025/2033, 23 October 2025), amending the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine and the Belarus Ordinance with effect from 13 December 2025. The decision adds asset freezes and entry/transit bans for 22 natural persons and 42 entities tied to Russia's military-industrial complex, energy sector and shadow-fleet vessel management; extends purchase/sale/insurance bans to over 100 additional tankers; imposes transaction restrictions on 5 Russian banks and 4 Russian-bank branches in Belarus and Kazakhstan for use of specialised financial-messaging services; sanctions Chinese and Hong Kong trading companies and refineries implicated in circumventing the G7 oil price cap; and designates 5 Belarusian persons linked to military-industrial activities. Divestment-exemption deadlines for Swiss persons winding down Russian holdings are extended to end-2026. This is a partial, listings-only tranche — the more substantive measures of the EU's 19th package (Russian LNG import ban, crypto-services prohibition, AI/HPC service bans) were not adopted until the Federal Council's follow-on decision of 25 February 2026.

On 29 October 2025 the Swiss Federal Council amended the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), published as AS 2025 662, completing Switzerland's alignment with the remaining goods, finance and services elements of the EU's 18th Russia sanctions package (Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494, 18 July 2025) and tightening the parallel Belarus regime. The amendment took effect 30 October 2025 and adds: an export ban covering additional structural-metal, general-purpose-machinery and machine-tool goods; an import ban on further petroleum-oil products and waste/scrap categories; and expanded controls on commercial transactions and investment instruments spanning financial services, investment banking, crude-petroleum trade and motor-vehicle/trailer goods. The Federal Department of Economic Affairs (WBF) had already taken over the measures within its own competence on 12 August 2025; this decision closes the remainder. In parallel, the Federal Council's asset-freeze annexes were extended to 14 individuals and 41 companies/organizations.

On 12 August 2025 the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (WBF) amended the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), published as AS 2025 497, adopting — within its own delegated competence and ahead of the full Federal Council decision — an interim tranche of measures aligning Switzerland with the EU's 18th Russia sanctions package (Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494, 18 July 2025). The amendment lowers the Russian-crude price cap and updates the associated Annex 28 price-threshold table, extends export prohibitions on transport services, adds port-access restrictions covering 105 additional shadow-fleet vessels, and widens controls on commercial transactions and investment instruments for Russian financial institutions. It also extends asset-freeze listings to entities in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, Azerbaijan, India and the UAE implicated in circumvention. The measure took effect 12 August 2025. The Federal Council closed out the remaining goods, finance and services elements of the 18th package on 29 October 2025 (see responds_to).

On 8 August 2025, Ukraine's President signed Decree No. 595/2025, enacting an NSDC decision "On the Application of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)" against Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and its international corporate network. Sanctions were applied to 18 individuals and 17 legal entities identified as involved in attempts to integrate the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant into Russia's grid, participation in the seizure of the Chornobyl NPP, production and servicing of dual-use nuclear equipment, and export of enriched uranium through Rosatom subsidiaries registered in Switzerland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, and Finland. Named entities include Uranium One Holding N.V. (Netherlands), Rosatom Finance Ltd (Cyprus), and JSC Kirov-Energomash (Russia).

Canada made SOR/2025-142, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, registered 2025-06-13. The regulations add 34 Russian entities to Part 2 of Schedule 1 alongside Keremet Bank Open Joint-Stock Company (Kyrgyzstan), three UAE-based entities, one Singapore-based entity, and two energy-commodity trading companies (Switzerland, Azerbaijan) — all designated as sanctions-evasion intermediaries for Russian trade. The amendments also add 201 vessels (by IMO number) to Schedule 1.1 as part of Russia's "shadow fleet," triggering a dealings ban, asset freeze, and a new prohibition on providing financial or other services to non-Canadians in relation to a listed vessel.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14257 on 2 April 2025 declaring a national emergency over US trade deficits and imposing a baseline 10% ad-valorem tariff on imports from nearly all trading partners effective 5 April, with higher country-specific "reciprocal" rates effective 9 April. The rate schedule was constructed from a formula tied to bilateral goods-trade deficits and ranged from 10% (UK, Singapore, Brazil, Australia, others) through 20% (EU), 24% (Japan), 25% (Korea), 32% (Taiwan, Indonesia, Switzerland), 34% (China, later raised to 84% then 125% during the April escalation), 46% (Vietnam), 49% (Cambodia). Multiple subsequent EOs paused the country-specific rates for 90 days for non-China destinations on 9 April while keeping the 10% baseline, pending bilateral negotiations.

President Lukashenko signed Decree No. 278 on 10 July 2024, extending the prohibitive import customs duty regime established under Decree No. 16 (12 January 2024) through 30 June 2025, preventing its lapse at year-end 2024. The decree also expands the commodity list subject to elevated import duty rates. The measure explicitly frames the duties as retaliatory, targeting goods originating from states designated as "unfriendly" to Belarus — principally EU member states, the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and other sanctioning jurisdictions. Co-ordinated with Russia's EAEU parallel-import framework (Resolution No. 506), the regime affects the cost arithmetic for sanctioned-goods routing through EAEU customs-union channels and signals continued institutionalisation of Belarus's counter-sanctions architecture.

On 29 February 2024 Switzerland's WBF decided to align with the EU's 13th Russia sanctions package by amending the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), effective 1 March 2024 at 18:00 CET. The amendment adds over 100 individuals and nearly 90 entities — mainly Russian military-industrial-complex firms and suppliers of DPRK-sourced weapons to Russia — to the asset-freeze and designation lists, and extends the dual-use/military-technology export ban to 27 additional companies believed to be circumventing existing controls.

On 31 January 2024 Switzerland's Federal Council decided to align with the EU's 12th sanctions package (adopted 18 December 2023) by amending the Ordinance on Measures Relating to the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), entering into force the same day at 18:00. The update extends Switzerland's Russia-sanctions perimeter to match the EU's additions — including the Russian diamond, steel and other import-revenue restrictions — and adds a new financial-sector prohibition barring Russian nationals and Russia-resident individuals from controlling Swiss crypto-asset service providers, aimed at closing sanctions-circumvention and enforcement gaps.

Switzerland's Federal Council promulgated the Verordnung über die Mindestbesteuerung grosser Unternehmensgruppen (Mindestbesteuerungsverordnung, MindStV; French: OIMin), SR 642.161, AS 2023 841, on 22 December 2023, with effect from 1 January 2024. The ordinance enacts a 15% Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT — Ergänzungssteuer) on Swiss constituent entities of MNE groups with consolidated annual revenue ≥ EUR 750 million, enacted under the temporary constitutional authority granted by Swiss voters in a popular referendum on 18 June 2023 (78.5% yes, Art. 129a BV). The Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) and Undertaxed Profits Rule (UTPR) were deliberately deferred to subsequent ordinance amendments, targeting FY 2025 phasing. The Swiss Federal Tax Administration (ESTV / AFC) is the administering authority; first QDMTT returns and GloBE Information Returns due 30 June 2026.

On 16 August 2023 the Swiss Federal Council amended the Ordinance of 4 March 2022 on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), aligning with the EU's 11th Russia sanctions package. The amendment adds two UAE-headquartered firms to the list of entities barred from exemptions to Switzerland's dual-use export ban on Russia, restricts the sale of securities issued after 6 August 2023 to Russian nationals, residents, entities and businesses regardless of currency, and adds 12 individuals and 87 entities to the asset-freeze list, targeting dual-use/military-tech exporters, FSB-licensed IT firms, propagandists and government officials. It entered into force the same day at 18:00 CEST.

Switzerland's Federal Council amended the Ordinance on measures related to the situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72) to align with the remainder of the EU's tenth sanctions package, effective 8pm on 29 March 2023. The amendment extends the existing Russia import ban to additional petroleum products (including petroleum jelly and petroleum coke), bitumen/asphalt, bituminous mastics, carbon and synthetic rubber, adds further export controls and designations linked to drone transfers to Russia, and tightens reporting obligations in the financial sector.

Switzerland's Federal Council amended the Ordinance on measures related to the situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72) to align with the EU's ninth sanctions package, effective 6pm on 25 January 2023. The amendment bans new Swiss investment, equity provision, and participation (including joint ventures) in Russian mining-sector entities, with a carve-out for critical raw materials (aluminium/bauxite, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron ore, mineral fertilisers, molybdenum, nickel, palladium, rhodium, scandium, titanium, vanadium). It also extends export bans on aerospace goods to aircraft and drone engines, adds new controls on dual-use and military/security-enhancement goods, bans product testing/advertising/market-research services to Russia, and designates roughly 200 additional individuals and entities, including the Russian Regional Development Bank, to frozen-asset lists.

The Bureau of Industry and Security added 24 entities across 26 entries to the Entity List, effective December 8, 2022, covering Latvia, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Three distinct enforcement clusters are addressed: Russian defense-electronics firms and their foreign affiliates supporting Russia's military-industrial base post-Ukraine invasion; Singapore-based front companies that supplied controlled items to PASNA, an Iran-based Specially Designated National; and Pakistani and Emirati entities engaged in unsafeguarded nuclear activities and ballistic-missile proliferation. One entity (Safe Technical Supply Co., LLC) was simultaneously removed from three entries covering Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Switzerland's Federal Council amended the Ordinance on measures in connection with the situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72) to align with the EU's eighth sanctions package, effective 6pm on 23 November 2022. The amendment creates the Swiss legal basis for an oil price-cap mechanism — banning maritime transport to third countries of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products unless purchased at or below a price cap to be set later (the G7/EU $60/bbl cap followed on 3 December 2022; see the companion US OFAC determination of 2022-12-05). It also extends import/export restrictions to additional iron and steel products and aerospace goods, bans the provision of IT, engineering, architecture and legal services to the Russian government and Russian companies, bans Swiss nationals from holding board seats at certain Russian state-owned companies, fully bans crypto-asset wallet/account/custody services to Russian persons regardless of value, and adopts an arms embargo against Russia (extended in part to Ukraine for reasons of Swiss neutrality).

On 16 March 2022 the Swiss Federal Council adopted a total revision of the Ordinance on Measures against Belarus (SR 946.231.116.9), aligning Switzerland's autonomous sanctions with the EU's Belarus regime. It bans imports of Belarusian petroleum products, potassium chloride ("potash"), wood, iron and steel, and cement and rubber products; bans exports of goods used to manufacture or process tobacco products, weapons, surveillance equipment, and goods usable for Belarus's military or security development; and imposes financial sanctions including a ban on public financing for trade with or investment in Belarus, restrictions on securities/loans/ deposits, a prohibition on transactions with the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, and exclusion of listed Belarusian banks from SWIFT. The ordinance entered into force on the day it was adopted.

On 4 March 2022 Switzerland's Federal Council adopted a total revision of the Ordinance on Measures Relating to the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), taking effect the same day at 18:00, to fully implement the EU's sanctions packages of 23 and 25 February 2022. The revision bans export of all dual-use goods to Russia regardless of end use or end user, bans export of goods that could contribute to Russia's military or technological strengthening or its defence and security sector, and prohibits export of specified goods and services to the oil sector, as well as goods for aviation, space and oil-refining/gas-liquefaction use.

On 28 February 2022 the Swiss Federal Council decided to adopt the EU sanctions packages of 23 and 25 February 2022. As part of this, the import, export and investment ban in place for Crimea and Sevastopol since 2014 was extended to the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk that are not under Ukrainian government control. The Federal Council instructed the EAER to amend the existing ordinance in line with the EU measures.

The US Bureau of Industry and Security added 14 entities across Russia, Germany, and Switzerland to the Entity List under 15 CFR Part 744, effective March 4, 2021. Ten Russian entities — including the 27th Scientific Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense (associated with Russia's chemical weapons activities) and nine members of the Chimmed Group distribution network (Chimmed Group, Femteco, Interlab, LabInvest, OOO Analit Products, OOO Intertech Instruments, Pharmcontract GC, Rau Farm, Regionsnab) — were listed for proliferation activities supporting Russia's WMD programs. Three German entities (Chimconnect GmbH, Pharmcontract GmbH, Riol-Chemie) and one Swiss entity (Chimconnect AG) were simultaneously listed as foreign-front nodes in the same procurement network. A license is required for all EAR-subject items; no license exceptions apply. The rule also corrects six pre-existing entries (one Germany, five China).

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding sixty entities under sixty-one entries to the Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744), effective August 27, 2020. The designated entities, spanning China, Hong Kong, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland, and the UAE, were found to be acting contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests. The rule also revised five existing entries under Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, and the UAE.

Russia Federal Law No. 127-FZ of 4 June 2018 "On measures (countermeasures) regarding the unfriendly actions of the United States of America and other foreign states" establishes the statutory authority under which the President and Government of the Russian Federation may impose counter-measures against states that engage in "unfriendly actions" toward Russia. The law enumerates permissible countermeasure categories — including import/export prohibitions, restrictions on foreign participation in Russian state procurement, suspension of international cooperation obligations, and prohibition of foreign-company services and transactions — and delegates implementation authority to the President (primary) and Government. It entered into force on the day of official publication (4 June 2018) and is the foundational parent statute for every major Russian counter-sanctions presidential decree and government resolution subsequently issued, including the gas-for-roubles payment regime, capital controls, parallel- imports authorisation, and asset-confiscation counter-mechanism.

The Federal Act of 22 March 2002 on the Implementation of International Sanctions (Embargogesetz / EmbG, SR 946.231), in force 1 January 2003, is Switzerland's foundational enabling statute authorising the Federal Council to issue coercive-measure ordinances implementing UN Security Council mandatory sanctions (under UN Charter Art. 25 obligations accepted upon Switzerland's 2002 UN accession), OSCE sanctions decisions, and — via the progressive EU-tracking clause — the sanctions of Switzerland's most important trading partners, primarily the EU. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) administers all resulting ordinances; FINMA supervises financial-sector compliance and FOEN supervises trade-in-goods compliance. The EmbG is the parent authority for Switzerland's entire portfolio of approximately 25 country-specific sanctions ordinances, including the Ukraine/Russia ordinance (SR 946.231.176.72 implementing EU Russia packages 1-19+), the Iran ordinance (SR 946.231.143.6), the DPRK ordinance (SR 946.231.127.6), the Myanmar ordinance (SR 946.231.157.5), and the Belarus ordinance (SR 946.231.116.9).