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

The European Commission approved on 30 March 2026 an Italian state aid scheme (SA.118992) worth up to €6 billion to support domestic production of renewable hydrogen for the transport and industrial sectors, running through 31 December 2029. The scheme operates via two-way contracts for difference (CfD): a strike price is set through competitive bidding, with Italy compensating producers when market prices fall below the strike price and producers reimbursing the state when prices exceed it. SA.118992 is the first sectorally-specialised renewable-hydrogen CISAF approval on the register — distinct from the cleantech- manufacturing cohort (solar/wind/batteries) — and at €6 billion is the largest individual CISAF approval to date, roughly 4× the Bulgaria SA.120414 electricity-price precedent and ~2× Germany SA.121215.

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).

The European Commission cleared, under EU State aid rules, a rescue loan of up to EUR 390 million from the Italian government to Acciaierie d'Italia (AdI, formerly ILVA), operator of Italy's largest integrated steelworks at Taranto. AdI has been under insolvency administration since February 2024 and faces near-term liquidity shortfalls to cover operating costs — supplier payments and wages — while a tender process to sell the business to a new operator continues. The loan is capped at the projected liquidity shortfall, priced at a market interest rate, and limited to a maximum six-month duration, consistent with EU rescue-aid conditions.

Italy's Department for Digital Transformation (Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri) and Invitalia S.p.A. signed an implementing agreement on 4-5 February 2026 establishing the EUR 733 million "Fondo Nazionale per la Connettività" (National Connectivity Fund), financed under PNRR Mission 1, Component 2, Investment 7. The fund provides non-repayable public grants to private telecom operators for ultra-broadband network build-out through 2029, targeting a minimum 1 Gbit/s download / 200 Mbit/s upload connection for covered property units, and requires a minimum 30% private co-financing share per project. Invitalia manages the fund through 31 December 2030.

SIMEST, the export-credit and internationalisation arm of Italy's state-owned Cassa Depositi e Prestiti group, launched the "Misura Stati Uniti" on 22 January 2026: an integrated EUR 300 million package to support Italian companies' direct investment and competitiveness in the United States. The package combines over EUR 100 million for direct equity participation in US subsidiaries of Italian firms with EUR 200 million in subsidised financing under Fund 394 (managed by SIMEST under agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). It forms part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation's "Piano d'Azione per l'Export," reflecting the US's position as Italy's largest extra-EU export market.

Law No. 4 of 15 January 2026 (Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 15 of 20 January 2026, in force 21 January 2026) converted with amendments Decree-Law No. 175 of 21 November 2025 ("Transizione 5.0"). During parliamentary conversion the Camera dei Deputati inserted a new Article 2-bis that materially expands Italy's Golden Power foreign-investment screening regime (DL 21/2012) into the financial, credit, and insurance sectors — the first explicit statutory inclusion of banking and insurance qualifying-holding transactions inside the Golden Power perimeter. The amendment introduces "national economic and financial security" as a public-order criterion alongside the traditional security and public-order profiles, and conditions exercise of special powers in the financial sector on the prior conclusion of pending European prudential and competition proceedings (ECB / EIOPA / EU Commission).

Decision No. 582 of 2025 of Egypt's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, published in the Egyptian Official Gazette (Issue 4 bis) on 5 January 2026, carves a narrow, fee-bearing exception into Egypt's standing export ban on raw white silica sand (originally imposed by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 108 of 2022). Shipments of raw white sand destined for production projects established inside Egypt's free zones are now permitted, but only within quantities approved by the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and subject to a new export duty of US$15 per metric ton (or the EGP equivalent). Outside this free-zone exception, the general export ban on the material remains in force.

Türkiye imposed a provisional WTO safeguard measure on imports of PET resin (polyethylene terephthalate, viscosity ≥78 ml/g, GTİP 3907.61.00.00.00) via Presidential Decision No. 10806, published in the Official Gazette on 31 December 2025 (Sayı 33124, 5. Mükerrer) alongside the implementing "İthalatta Korunma Önlemlerine İlişkin Tebliğ" (Tebliğ No. 2026/1). The measure levies an additional financial obligation of USD 100 per tonne, applied erga omnes for up to 200 days while the Ministry's full safeguard investigation continues. A tariff-quota carve-out exempts eligible developing-country origins meeting the WTO Safeguards Agreement Article 9 de-minimis threshold (individually ≤3% of 2024 imports, collectively ≤9%): roughly 3,693 tonnes per country and 11,079 tonnes in aggregate are admitted duty-free before the $100/tonne obligation applies to the remainder. Leading 2024 PET resin suppliers to Türkiye include China, South Korea and Italy.

Italy's national development bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), together with a banking consortium led by Intesa Sanpaolo (including Crédit Agricole and Banca Popolare di Sondrio), provided a EUR 56 million financing package to ICAM SpA, an Italian chocolate and cocoa semi-finished products manufacturer based in Orsenigo (Como province). Of the total, EUR 40 million is earmarked for expansion of the Orsenigo production facility — including a new production building, an innovation centre for chocolate recipe development, energy-efficient automated machinery, and enhanced raw-material traceability systems — while EUR 16 million supports the company's capital structure. The expansion will add over 23,000 square meters across four levels and raise production capacity from 30,000 to 50,000 tons annually by 2027.

The European Investment Bank signed the first EUR 231 million tranche (EUR 16m + EUR 50m + EUR 165m) of a EUR 271 million green loan to Italy's Sunprime Holdings Srl on 22 December 2025, under the EIB-approved "Project Sophocles" solar-and-battery programme (project reference 20250247, approved 27 August 2025). The financing backs a EUR 487 million multi-year investment programme deploying roughly 280 MWp of small-scale solar PV across multiple Italian sites plus 80 MW and 270 MW of four-hour battery energy storage. A further EUR 40 million tranche signed in February 2026, and the programme was subsequently expanded to a EUR 507 million EIB/Natixis CIB co-financing package announced in March 2026. Global Trade Alert logs the December tranche as a "red" state-loan intervention on grounds that below-market EIB financing is a trade- and competition-distorting subsidy to a domestic renewable-energy developer.

The European Investment Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo announced on 22 December 2025 two finalised agreements totalling EUR 700 million to support access to finance and investment for Italian SMEs and mid-caps: a EUR 500 million EIB covered-bond purchase and a EUR 200 million EIB risk-sharing guarantee to Intesa Sanpaolo backing new mid-cap lending. Twenty-five percent of the combined resources (about EUR 175 million) is earmarked for climate action, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable-mobility investment. The EIB estimates the package will mobilise more than EUR 1.9 billion in real-economy investment and reach roughly 1,000 Italian businesses. Global Trade Alert separately logs the EUR 200 million guarantee leg as a "red"-flagged state-linked lending-support intervention.

The European Commission approved an Italian State aid scheme worth EUR 1.5 billion (USD ~1.74 billion) under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), authorising direct grants, preferential loans, or a combination of both for strategic investments that add new cleantech manufacturing capacity. Eligible technologies span solar photovoltaic (including polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, solar glass, modules, inverters, tracking systems and mounting structures), onshore and offshore wind, heat pumps, geothermal, energy storage and batteries, hydrogen, and biomethane/biogas component manufacturing. The scheme is open to companies throughout Italy, is co-financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), and runs until 31 December 2030.

India's Ministry of Defence signed a Rs 2,095.70 crore (~$236.4m) contract with state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for INVAR laser-guided anti-tank missiles to arm the Indian Army's T-90 tank fleet, procured under the 'Buy (Indian)' category which mandates domestic-content/localisation thresholds rather than open international tender. Global Trade Alert logs the measure as a "public procurement localisation" intervention that displaces potential foreign suppliers (tracked as Belgium, Israel and Italy) from competing for the contract. The deal is framed by MoD as an Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) milestone, with BDL having progressively localised guidance and propulsion subsystems originally licensed from Russian technology.

President Trump signed Proclamation 10984 "Adjusting Imports of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles, Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Parts, and Buses Into the United States" on 17 October 2025, invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose a 25% ad valorem tariff on imports of Class 3 to Class 8 medium- and heavy-duty trucks (large pick-up trucks, moving trucks, cargo trucks, dump trucks, tractors) and on key MHDV parts, and a 10% ad valorem tariff on buses and other vehicles classified in HTSUS heading 8702. Duties take effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on 1 November 2025 (Federal Register doc 2025-19639, 90 FR 48451, published 22 October 2025). USMCA-qualifying MHDVs are tariffed only on the value of non-U.S. content; the proclamation also establishes an offset programme for MHDV parts equal to 3.75% of the aggregate value of all MHDVs assembled in the United States from 2025 through 2030, mirroring the Proclamation 10925 light-vehicle offset architecture.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 200 million loan with Dolomiti Energia Holding SpA on 6 October 2025 to finance the group's 2030 investment programme. 55% of the funding backs new onshore wind farms in Campania and Puglia (121 MW combined capacity), and 45% finances renovation and development of the power grid in the Autonomous Province of Trento, including new high-voltage lines and substations. 70.5% of the facility is backed by an InvestEU guarantee, and the project is expected to create approximately 500 jobs during implementation.

The European Commission approved EUR 24.5 million (EUR 22.2 million in real terms) of Italian state aid to Interporto Bologna, the public-private operator of a multimodal freight terminal near Bologna sitting at the junction of three TEN-T corridors. The direct-grant funding, notified by Italian authorities and cleared on 2 October 2025 under the "no objection" procedure, covers roughly 73% of the aid-relevant cost of adding five 750-metre rail tracks and expanding the platform by about 80,000 m², against total project costs of EUR 33.4 million. The stated policy purpose is to shift Emilia-Romagna freight traffic from road to rail; construction began July 2024 with the expanded terminal targeted for 2027.

Italy's state investment agency Invitalia approved a "Contratto di Sviluppo" (Development Contract) worth EUR 103.7 million in total investment for Italian Green Factory SpA (Tea Tek group), of which EUR 67 million is Invitalia state aid (financial grant plus state loan) on eligible costs, with a further EUR 29 million routed through the Fondo di Garanzia PMI (SME Guarantee Fund). The package reindustrialises the former Whirlpool site in Naples and a second plant in Pomigliano d'Arco for photovoltaic (solar) component production, plus two smaller R&D projects (predictive diagnostics for electrical transformers/panels; walkable solar installations for road infrastructure). The plan commits to retaining 294 previously-displaced Whirlpool workers and adding 55 new hires (349 total).

Italy enacted Legge 23 settembre 2025, n. 132 — "Disposizioni e deleghe al Governo in materia di intelligenza artificiale" — published in Gazzetta Ufficiale Serie Generale n. 223 of 25 September 2025 (atto 25G00143) and entered into force on 10 October 2025. The statute makes Italy the first EU member state to enact a comprehensive national AI law complementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (EU AI Act), designating AgID (Agency for Digital Italy) and ACN (National Cybersecurity Agency) as national oversight authorities under Presidency-of-the-Council-of-Ministers coordination. It sets sectoral rules for healthcare, labour, intellectual professions, public administration and the judiciary; authorises up to €1 billion in state-backed venture capital (via CDP Venture Capital) for AI, cybersecurity and telecoms; creates criminal penalties of up to five years' imprisonment for harmful deepfakes; mandates parental consent for under-14 users; and delegates secondary legislation to the Government across multiple domains.

Italy's Presidency of the Council of Ministers published a Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers (DPCM) dated 19 May 2025 in the Official Gazette (no. 219, 20 September 2025), allocating EUR 120 million to the "Fondo di contrasto alla deindustrializzazione" (Anti-Deindustrialization Fund). EUR 100 million goes to five areas of the Lazio Industrial Consortium and EUR 20 million to the Piceno Consind consortium (Ascoli Piceno province, Marche region). Manufacturing enterprises (ATECO section C) of any size, established or intending to establish in the covered municipalities, can receive non-repayable grants (fondo perduto) of up to 100% of eligible capital expenditure under EU de minimis rules, capped at EUR 300,000 per beneficiary, for plant restructuring, new facilities, and product/process modernization. Invitalia manages the application process; the first-edition window drew 1,451 applications, with 872 companies financed for a combined EUR 131.1 million in grants awarded as of mid-2026.

Italy's Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) signed a decree on 8 August 2025, published in Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 208 on 8 September 2025, allocating EUR 597.32 million in non-repayable ("a fondo perduto") incentives for the purchase of battery-electric vehicles. The scheme is funded under PNRR Investment 4.5 (light-duty private and commercial fleet renewal) and targets private individuals (one M1 passenger vehicle, list price capped at EUR 35,000 ex-VAT/options, grant EUR 9,000-11,000 based on ISEE income band) and microenterprises (up to two N1/N2 commercial vehicles, grant up to EUR 20,000 per vehicle capped at 30% of purchase price). Eligibility is restricted to residents/registered offices in functional urban areas (cities over 50,000 inhabitants plus commuter belt) and requires scrapping a Euro 5 or older internal-combustion vehicle.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 221.5 million green loan with Albasolar Srl (a project vehicle of promoter GreenIT SpA) on 5 August 2025 to finance the "ALBA SOLAR PV GREEN LOAN" project: development, construction and operation of a portfolio of roughly 14 solar PV plants across Italy totalling 383 MWp, with individual plant capacities ranging 5-80 MWp. The loan was disbursed as three tranches signed the same day (EUR 7.75m, EUR 42.75m and EUR 171.0m), against an EIB-estimated total project cost of approximately EUR 400 million and proposed EIB financing of up to EUR 250 million.

On 27 July 2025, President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached political agreement at Turnberry, Scotland, on a Framework Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair and Balanced Trade. The framework was formalised in a Joint Statement published on 21 August 2025 by the White House and DG TRADE. The deal establishes a 15% all-inclusive (MFN + Section 232) US tariff ceiling on the vast majority of EU originating goods — including autos, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, and chemicals — replacing the threatened 20-30% reciprocal tariff trajectory under EO 14257 (April 2025). Steel and aluminium are excluded from the 15% ceiling and remain at the 50% Section 232 rate pending negotiation of a quota solution. In return, the EU commits to: (i) eliminate tariffs on all US industrial goods, (ii) preferential market access for a wide range of US agricultural and seafood products, (iii) suspension of its rebalancing countermeasures under Reg 2025/778 (suspension effective 7 August 2025), (iv) expected energy offtake of $750bn (LNG, oil, nuclear) through 2028, (v) at least $40bn in US AI chip purchases, and (vi) facilitation of $600bn in additional EU corporate investment into the US through 2028. Effective from 1 September 2025, the US applies MFN-only treatment (no 15% top-up) to: aircraft and parts, generic pharmaceuticals and ingredients, chemical precursors, cork, and certain unavailable natural resources. The framework is not legally binding but anchors the bilateral architecture; it is the largest-economy ART-programme deal alongside US-UK, US-Japan, US-Korea, US-Taiwan, and US-Indonesia.

The European Commission approved a EUR 41.5 million Italian direct-grant state aid measure to Ephos Srl, an Italian photonics SME, to help finance "Fab-2," a new manufacturing facility for glass-based photonic integrated circuits used in AI datacentres, high-performance computing and quantum computing. The aid was cleared under the European Chips Act state aid framework (Commission case SA.117987, decision of 25 July 2025) and forms part of a EUR 104.9 million total project investment. Ephos already operates a first facility (Fab-1) in Milan; Fab-2 is intended to be the first EU facility of its kind processing this glass-substrate photonic chip technology at scale.

On 24 July 2025 the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Italian energy major Eni signed a EUR 500 million (approx. USD 587.8 million) 15-year finance contract to support conversion of Eni's Livorno refinery in Tuscany into a biorefinery. The project adds a biogenic pre-treatment unit and a 500,000-tonne/year Ecofining(TM) plant able to produce HVO diesel, HVO naphtha and bio-LPG from waste and plant-residue feedstocks, with future flexibility to shift output toward sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). It is Eni's third domestic biorefinery conversion (after Venice and Gela) and part of Enilive's plan to reach 5+ million tonnes/year of biorefinery capacity by 2030. Global Trade Alert logged the financing as a "Red" (trade/investment-distorting) state loan.

Italy's Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) signed a decree ("Disciplina degli interventi di sostegno alla domanda di servizi di cloud computing e cyber security") on 18 July 2025 establishing a EUR 150 million fund, drawn from FSC 2014-2020 resources, to subsidize SME and self-employed purchases of cloud computing and cybersecurity services nationwide. Beneficiaries receive a non-repayable grant covering up to 50% of eligible expenses, capped at EUR 20,000 per beneficiary, conditional on holding a connectivity contract of at least 30 Mbps download speed. Supplier registration (a prerequisite for the voucher's use) was originally set to close 23 April 2026 and was later extended to 27 May 2026; beneficiary application procedures follow once the authorized-supplier list is formed.

Brazil's Câmara de Comércio Exterior (Gecex) approved Resolução nº 756, de 7 de julho de 2025, amending Annexes V, VI and X of the base tariff-nomenclature resolution (Gecex nº 272/2021, the instrument that adapted Brazil's Common Mercosur Nomenclature/Common External Tariff schedule to the 2022 Harmonized System revision). The amendment changes import tariffs and tariff-rate quotas for a narrow set of product lines including airport fire-fighting vehicles (NCM 8705.30.00), sterile saline flush and elevator guide rails, with a companion Portaria Secex nº 410/2025 setting the quota-allocation criteria. Global Trade Alert flags China, Germany and Italy as the principal affected trading partners.

Italy's national development bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) signed an agreement with Assifact, the Italian factoring industry association, to make available a EUR 1 billion "Plafond Factoring" dedicated to supporting liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-cap companies operating in Italy. Banks and financial intermediaries draw on the CDP facility to acquire commercial credits from eligible companies (fewer than 250 full-time-equivalent employees for SMEs, fewer than 3,000 for mid-caps), providing short-term financing in pro-solvendo and/or pro-soluto factoring form. The measure is part of CDP's 2025-2027 Strategic Plan and follows over EUR 30 billion in similar liquidity plafonds CDP has deployed since 2009.

Italy's national development bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), provided EUR 30 million in financing to the Pittini Group, one of Italy's largest steel producers, to fund sustainability investments at its Verona and Udine plants. The financing covers a low-emission transfer system for semi-finished steel products and more efficient water-treatment and production facilities. The deal is state development-bank support for decarbonisation capex in a strategic heavy-industry sector rather than a trade-restrictive measure.

Italy's Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) launched the "LogIN Business" grant scheme, a EUR 157 million PNRR (Next Generation EU) measure under sub-investment M3C2-I.2.1.3, to fund digital transformation at freight transport and logistics companies. The scheme, implemented via state-owned RAM S.p.A., co-finances (grant or de-minimis regime) at least 8,350 Italian and EU-based firms for interoperability with the National Logistics Platform (PLN), e-CMR document dematerialisation aligned with eFTI, and load-planning/route-optimisation systems, with 40% of funds reserved for Southern Italy. Applications opened via RAM S.p.A.'s dedicated portal with a 17 September 2025 deadline.

The Italian government approved Decreto-Legge 26 giugno 2025, n. 92 ("Misure urgenti di sostegno ai comparti produttivi"), authorising up to EUR 200 million in financing for ILVA S.p.A. in extraordinary administration — the operator of the former Ilva steelworks at Taranto — to fund production continuity and plant-safety works. The financing can be disbursed directly to ILVA or transferred to Acciaierie d'Italia S.p.A. The same decree extends tax relief for companies operating in designated "complex industrial crisis area" zones for fiscal years 2025 and 2026. The decree was published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale and entered into force on 27 June 2025.

The European Commission approved, under EU State aid rules (Case SA.111368), Italy's reintroduction of tax and social-security relief for shipping companies that register vessels in the Italian International Register ("Registro Internazionale"). The scheme, worth an estimated EUR 5.4 billion, runs for a ten-year period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2033 and grants qualifying operators — including cruise-ship shipboard concessionaires — corporate income-tax reductions, withholding-tax credits, and exemptions from seafarer social-security and welfare contributions. The stated aim is to encourage ship registration under EU/EEA flags, strengthen the competitiveness of the Italian-flagged fleet, and raise compliance with EU social, environmental and safety standards; undertakings in financial difficulty are excluded.

MIMIT signed an "Accordo di Programma" with Gruppo Arvedi covering the industrial reconversion and environmental remediation of the Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) steelworks. The state is supporting the plan through a "Contratto di sviluppo per Tutela Ambientale" administered by Invitalia, with requested state financial support of EUR 96.5 million against a total company investment plan of EUR 557 million to be completed by 2028 (with a further EUR 573 million potential second phase). The agreement includes commitments on air-pollution reduction, landfill remediation, renewable energy procurement via Umbria's hydroelectric concessions, and workforce retention/stabilisation.

Mediocredito Centrale (MCC), the Italian state-owned bank controlled by Invitalia (Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance), signed a EUR 10 million loan with Coopservice, a facility-management cooperative group employing over 20,000 people across Italy and nine other countries. The financing supports working capital tied to Coopservice's innovation, environmental-sustainability, and transparency objectives, with MCC citing particular attention to Southern Italy, where the group employs over 3,200 workers. The deal channels state-bank credit to a domestic services group rather than financing a specific capital project.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding 18 persons to the Unverified List (UVL) and removing 5. Of the 18 additions, 5 are under China, 6 under Finland, 3 under Türkiye, 2 under Kazakhstan, 1 under Italy, and 1 under the United Kingdom — a geographic distribution dominated by Russia-adjacent diversion corridors. UVL placement does not impose a license-denial presumption (unlike the Entity List) but suspends use of EAR license exceptions for shipments to listed parties and requires US exporters to obtain a UVL Statement before exporting any item subject to the EAR. The rule was published and effective the same day, 25 April 2025 (90 FR 17339).

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 Trump signed Proclamation 10908 "Adjusting Imports of Automobiles and Automobile Parts Into the United States" on 26 March 2025, invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose a 25% ad valorem tariff on imports of finished passenger vehicles and light trucks effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on 3 April 2025, with the duty extended to key automobile parts (engines and engine parts, transmissions and powertrain components, electrical components) effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on 3 May 2025. USMCA-origin automobiles receive an interim deduction equal to the value of US-origin content; USMCA-origin parts that satisfy the agreement's rules of origin are temporarily exempt from the parts duty pending a Commerce-administered process. The proclamation is the first Section 232 instrument applied to finished automobiles in US history and the largest-by-trade-volume Section 232 measure of the second Trump administration, covering roughly USD 460 billion of annual auto and auto-parts imports.

On 25 March 2025 the European Commission adopted the first list of 47 Strategic Projects inside the EU under Article 7 of the Critical Raw Materials Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252), followed on 4 June 2025 by 13 Strategic Projects located in third countries — 60 designations in total. The 47 EU projects span 13 Member States and 14 strategic raw materials, with an expected EUR 22.5bn capital-investment envelope; the 13 third-country projects require a further EUR 5.5bn. Designation triggers fast-track permitting (max 27 months for extraction, 15 months for processing/recycling), preferential access to EU/EIB/EBRD finance, and Member State priority status, operationalising the CRMA's 2030 benchmarks (≥10% extraction, ≥40% processing, ≥25% recycling, ≤65% single-country dependence).

President Trump signed two Presidential Proclamations on 11 February 2025 reinstating a universal 25% ad-valorem tariff on all steel-mill products and raising the aluminum tariff from 10% to 25% on all imports into the United States, effective 12 March 2025. The proclamations revoked every bilateral exclusion and quota arrangement negotiated by the Biden administration with the EU, UK, Japan, Korea, Australia, and others under the 2021-2022 "alternative measures" frameworks, returning all trading partners to the baseline Section 232 rate without product-level or country-level carve-outs.

Italy's Decreto-Legge 25 giugno 2024 n. 84, converted with amendments into Legge 8 agosto 2024 n. 115 (Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 189 of 13 August 2024, in force 14 August 2024), is Italy's national implementing instrument for Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 (the EU Critical Raw Materials Act). It establishes a MIMIT-led national governance framework for strategic CRM projects spanning extraction, transformation, and recycling; creates a mandatory National Register of strategic companies and value chains with annual reporting on strategic-material import/export flows; divides permitting competence between MASE (extraction/recycling, max 18/10 months) and MIMIT (transformation, max 10 months); and designates INVITALIA and CDP as financing windows for Italian strategic-CRM projects seeking EU Strategic Project status under CRMA Article 6.

Decreto-legge n. 19 of 2 March 2024 ("PNRR-quater"), converted into Law n. 56 of 29 April 2024, delivers Italy's fourth package of NGEU/PNRR implementation measures. Article 38 establishes the Transizione 5.0 plan, a EUR 6.3 billion tax-credit programme financed from ECOFIN-derived RepowerEU allocations targeting combined digital and energy-transition capital expenditure by Italian firms in fiscal years 2024–2025. The plan requires a certified minimum energy-consumption reduction (≥3% at production-structure level or ≥5% at process level) and relies on the GSE (Gestore Servizi Energetici) for ex-ante and ex-post energy-savings audits, making this the first Italian industrial-policy instrument to hard-wire measurable energy efficiency into capex-incentive eligibility.

Law No. 2 of 11 January 2024 (Gazzetta Ufficiale Serie Generale n. 10 of 13 January 2024, in force 14 January 2024) converts with amendments Decreto-Legge 15 November 2023, n. 161 ("Disposizioni urgenti per il «Piano Mattei» per lo sviluppo in Stati del Continente africano") into permanent law. The statute establishes Italy's first formal Africa-policy framework: a four-year strategic plan adopted by Presidential Decree (subject to parliamentary opinion), a Steering Committee ("Cabina di Regia") at Palazzo Chigi chaired by the Prime Minister, and a Mission Structure inside the Presidency to coordinate implementation. The Plan organises intervention along five thematic pillars (education/training, health, agriculture, water, energy / climate-energy nexus) across an initial nine pilot countries — Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Republic of Congo, and Tunisia — with an announced ~EUR 5.5bn envelope drawn primarily from the Italian Climate Fund (~EUR 3bn) and pre-existing development-cooperation resources (~EUR 2.5bn). Positions Italy as a transit corridor and industrial gateway between African resources and EU industry, layering onto the EU Global Gateway / Critical Raw Materials Act perimeter.

On 8 December 2023 the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a direct final rule (88 FR 85479; FR Doc 2023-26532) making two export-liberalisation amendments to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). First, BIS removes Chemical and Biological Weapons (CB) proliferation column controls from the Commerce Country Chart for exports of certain pathogens and toxins (ECCNs 1C351, 1C353, and 1C354) when destined to Australia Group (AG) member countries, on the basis that AG members operate equivalent domestic CBW-export controls. Second, the rule revises the Crime Control and Detection (CC) column entries for Austria, Finland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Sweden, and Switzerland, reflecting the updated US assessment of those countries' law-enforcement export-control standards. Both changes are effective on publication and reduce US export-licensing burdens for allied-country destinations without altering controls for non-allied markets.

Decree-Law No. 104 of 10 August 2023 ("Decreto Asset" / Omnibus Decree, GU n.186 of 10 Aug 2023, in force 11 Aug 2023) was converted with amendments into Law No. 136 of 9 October 2023 (GU n.236 of 9 Oct 2023). The conversion law materially expanded Italy's "Golden Power" foreign-direct-investment screening regime (DL 21/2012). Two key extensions: (i) intra-group transactions involving entities outside the EU are no longer exempt from the exercise of special powers — only the prior notification carve-out was preserved; (ii) acts, resolutions and operations concerning intellectual-property rights in artificial intelligence, semiconductor production, cybersecurity, aerospace, energy storage, quantum and nuclear technologies, and food production technologies fall within scope when one or more counter-parties sit outside the EU. The Prime Minister also obtained an explicit veto power over transactions creating "exceptional situations" not already covered by sectoral or EU prudential / merger rules, including those touching qualifying holdings in the financial sector.

Decreto-Legge 15 marzo 2012 n. 21 (GU n. 63 of 15 March 2012), converted with amendments into Legge 11 maggio 2012 n. 56 (GU n. 111 of 14 May 2012), establishes Italy's "Golden Power" special-powers regime — the foundational statute authorising the Italian Government to impose conditions on, veto, or prescribe remedies for corporate transactions in strategic sectors. The decree marked Italy's transition from a golden-share model (applicable only to privatised companies) to a sector-wide golden-power model applicable to any company carrying out activities of strategic relevance. Administered by the Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri (DICA), the regime has been progressively extended from its original defence + national-security + energy/transport/ communications scope to cover 5G, cloud, critical-raw-materials, financial-credit-insurance, agri-food, healthcare, media, space, and AI through a series of amending decrees from 2019 to 2026.