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

Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission issued Anti-Dumping Notice No. 2026/083 (Case 688) on 23 June 2026, making a Preliminary Affirmative Determination (PAD) under s.269TD of the Customs Act 1901 covering certain flat rolled steel products from China and Korea. Alongside a much larger provisional anti-dumping duty, the Commissioner found sufficient grounds for a provisional countervailing (anti-subsidy) duty on Chinese-origin goods, with interim security rates of 3.2% (Baoshan Iron & Steel) to 4.5% (all other/uncooperative exporters), effective on imports entered for home consumption on or after 24 June 2026. The investigation was initiated on 24 October 2025 following an application by BlueScope Steel Limited.

On 17 May 2026, Treasurer Jim Chalmers signed the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers (Disposal of Interests in Northern Minerals Limited) Orders (No. 1) 2026 (F2026N00326), directing six China-linked foreign investors to divest a combined 1,678,895,780 shares in Northern Minerals Limited (ASX: NTU) within 14 days of the Orders commencing on 18 June 2026. The six named investors are: Real International Resources Limited (619.1m shares), Qogir Trading and Service Co. Limited (523.5m), Vastness Investment Group Limited (271.3m), Chuanyou Cong (130.1m), Hong Kong Ying Tak Limited (95.3m), and Zhongxiong Lin (39.7m), together representing approximately 17.6% of NTU's total shares. NTU owns the Browns Range Heavy Rare Earths Project in Western Australia, one of the few ex-China commercial-scale dysprosium and terbium deposits. These orders are the second tranche of Treasurer-forced divestment of Chinese shareholders in NTU, distinct from the AUD 14 million Federal Court penalty imposed on Indian Ocean International Shipping in January 2026 for non-compliance with the June 2024 disposal orders.

Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) published a definitive countervailing (anti-subsidy) duty of 4.5% on imports of steel corner/finishing beading and angles from China, effective 8 May 2026, under Case 677. The investigation was initiated 30 May 2025 following an application from domestic manufacturer Rondo Building Services Pty Ltd, covering metallic-coated corner beading and angles up to 0.49mm base metal thickness under HS codes 7216.61.00, 7216.69.00, 7216.91.00, 7216.99.00 and 7308.90.00. A companion definitive anti-dumping duty of 27.8% on the same product from non-cooperative Chinese exporters was imposed under the same case.

Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission issued Anti-Dumping Notice No. 2026/031 (Case 659) in March 2026, making a second Preliminary Affirmative Determination (PAD) on dumped imports of certain strata reinforcing steel bolts from China, amending the securities schedule under Customs Act 1901 s.42 and extending the determination to cover provisional countervailing duties for the first time. The goods — hollow flat-rolled steel bolts (44–48 mm OD, 2.2–2.5 m length) used in underground mining and tunnelling roof-and-rib support — are subject to revised interim security rates pending the Commissioner's final report to the Minister (due 16 April 2026). The applicant is DSI Underground Australia Pty Ltd; the Statement of Essential Facts (SEF 659) was released concurrently.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded a AUD 25.3 million grant to Sydney-based startup SunDrive Solar to scale and commercialise its copper-metallisation solar cell technology at its Kurnell (New South Wales) facility, taking the process from R&D toward a 300 MW commercial-scale production line. The technology replaces silver — the metallisation material used in conventional solar cell manufacturing — with copper, a direct response to silver prices having nearly tripled over three years while the solar industry now consumes roughly a third of global industrial silver supply. The grant builds on an earlier AUD 14 million ARENA award and is delivered under the Advancing Renewables Program, with equipment partners Maxwell and Vistar supporting production-tool development, cost modelling and module testing.

Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission initiated a dumping and countervailing investigation on 23 October 2025 into freight railway wheels (forged and rolled high-carbon steel, 27.5"-37.5" outside diameter, Australian HS 8607.19.00.20) imported from China, following an application from Commonwealth Steel Company Pty Ltd. On 22 December 2025 the Commission issued Anti-Dumping Notice No. 2025/128, a preliminary affirmative dumping determination, imposing a provisional antidumping duty of 36.9% (applied uniformly to cooperating and non-cooperating exporters) via securities collected on imports from that date. The parallel countervailing-subsidy investigation continues; the Commission found insufficient evidence at this stage to support a preliminary affirmative countervailing determination.

Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) imposed a provisional anti-subsidy (countervailing) duty on imports of light gauge steel stud and track (LGST) from China, effective 18 June 2026, under Case 679. The investigation — initiated 30 June 2025 (initiation notice ADN 2025/053) following an application from local manufacturer Rondo Building Services Pty Ltd — covers metallic-coated LGST with a profile up to 170mm x 170mm and base metal thickness up to 0.69mm, imported under HS codes 7216.61.00, 7216.69.00, 7308.90.00 and 7216.91.00. A parallel provisional anti-dumping duty investigation on the same product is running on the same case timeline. The Commission's Statement of Essential Facts was delayed to no later than 17 June 2026, with final recommendations to the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science expected by 17 August 2026.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded up to AUD 46 million to Australian solar technology company 5B under Round 1A of the Solar Sunshot Program, the first funding decision under the AUD 1 billion program. The award comprises up to AUD 26 million in production credits tied to Australian-based manufacturing of 5B's "Maverick" prefabricated, prewired solar deployment system, plus a AUD 20 million capital grant for technology design improvements. The funding is intended to expand 5B's Adelaide manufacturing capacity to at least 200 MW of Maverick units per year over three years and is expected to cut the company's Australian production costs by 25%.

On 2 June 2024, Treasurer Jim Chalmers signed the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers (Disposal of Interests in Northern Minerals Limited) Orders 2024 (F2024N00475), directing five China-linked foreign investors to divest a combined 613,573,632 shares in Northern Minerals Limited (ASX: NTU) to non-associates by 2 September 2024 on national-security grounds. The five named investors are Yuxiao Fund Pte Ltd, Black Stone Resources Limited, Indian Ocean International Shipping and Service Company Limited, Ms Ximei Liu, and Mr Xi Wang, together holding approximately 10.4% of NTU's total shares. NTU owns the Browns Range Heavy Rare Earths Project in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia — one of the few commercial-scale dysprosium and terbium deposits outside China. This is the foundational FATA s.69(2) disposal-order instrument; non-compliance led to an AUD 14 million Federal Court penalty in January 2026 and a second tranche of disposal orders against six further China-linked investors in May 2026.

On 22 July 2021, Australia's Minister for Industry, Science and Technology announced an AUD 14.8 million Modern Manufacturing Initiative grant to Lynas Rare Earths for a new Rare Earth Carbonate Refining Circuit at its planned Kalgoorlie, Western Australia processing facility. The published GrantConnect award record (GA200152, approved 16 June 2021) lists the contracted grant value to recipient Lynas Kalgoorlie Pty Ltd at AUD 15,618,958.30 (GST inclusive). The process reduces chemical consumption and processing cost for refining ore from Lynas's Mt Weld deposit onshore in Australia, reducing reliance on Chinese midstream rare earth refining capacity.