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

Japan's Cabinet decided on 2026-07-03 to extend for a further five years the 30.8% anti-dumping duty on dipotassium carbonate (K2CO3, used as a raw material in LCD glass and detergents) originating in South Korea. The duty was first imposed 2021-06-24 through 2026-06-23; following a June 2025 extension petition from domestic producer AGC Inc. and a MOF/METI investigation launched August 2025, the Customs Tariff Council's special duties subcommittee found a continued/recurring risk of dumped imports and material injury, and recommended a 5-year extension. The amending Cabinet Order (Cabinet Order No. 223 of 2026) was promulgated 2026-07-08 and took effect 2026-07-09, extending the duty period to 2031-07-07 at the unchanged 30.8% rate.

India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated anti-dumping investigation No. 6/17/2026-DGTR (SETU Case ID: AD/OI/016/2026) on 22 June 2026 into imports of Cold Rolled Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (CRGO) and Amorphous Metal (AM) originating in or exported from China PR, Japan, Korea RP, and Russia, on application by JSW JFE Electrical Steel Nashik Pvt Ltd (a JV between JSW Steel and Japan's JFE Steel Corporation). The period of investigation (POI) covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026; the injury analysis period spans 2022-23 through the POI. CRGO is the magnetic-core input for every power and distribution transformer, and amorphous metal is the next-generation low-loss core alternative; together they constitute grid-critical capital-equipment feedstock for India's electricity-system expansion, making this probe analytically distinct from — and more strategically sensitive than — the CRNO definitive-duty case (Notification 35/2025-Customs (ADD)).

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 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 21 May 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 473rd plenary session adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against PVC paste resin (PSR) imports from Germany, France, Norway and Sweden, recommending definitive five-year duties of 25.79–31.55% to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) for formal imposition via customs notification. The case was initiated in July 2025 following a complaint by Hanwha Solutions Corp., and provisional duties of 25.79–42.81% have been in effect since February 2026; the final rates represent a notable reduction from the provisional upper bound. The KTC concluded that PSR dumping from the four European countries caused tangible injury to Korea's domestic chemical industry.

Presidential decree signed by President Claudia Sheinbaum and published in the evening edition of the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 23 April 2026, in force 24 April 2026. The decree amends the Tariff of the Ley de los Impuestos Generales de Importación y de Exportación (LIGIE/TIGIE) and the Decreto que establece diversos Programas de Promoción Sectorial (PROSEC), imposing MFN import duties at 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 30% or 35% ad valorem on 185 tariff fractions covering chemical products, cosmetics, paper and cardboard, textiles, steel, graphic arts, aluminum manufactures, auto parts, electrical material, bicycles, musical instruments, furniture, wind turbines, and trailers. Goods originating in countries with which Mexico has a free-trade agreement remain eligible for preferential treatment, so practical incidence falls on China and other non-FTA suppliers (Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Taiwan, UAE, South Africa). Paired PROSEC modifications add tariff fractions to Article 5 sections I, II.b and XIX (electrical, electronic, automotive and auto-parts industries) at exempt (EX) rates.

On 21 April 2026, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal issued a final injury finding in Inquiry NQ-2025-005, determining that the dumping of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) originating in or exported from Mexico, the Philippines, Türkiye, and South Korea has caused material injury to the domestic Canadian steel industry. Anti- dumping duties are payable on imports released by CBSA on or after 21 April 2026 and remain in effect for five years. The US investigation was terminated separately.

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 13 April 2026 the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement, in trilogue with the Commission, on the new EU steel safeguard regulation that will replace the existing WTO-safeguard-based measure (Regulation (EU) 2019/159, last tightened by Implementing Regulation 2025/612) expiring on 30 June 2026. The agreement adopts the core architecture of the Commission's October 2025 proposal (procedure 2025/0726(COD)): an overall duty-free tariff-rate quota of approximately 18.3 million tonnes per year — a roughly 47% reduction versus the 2024 safeguard quotas — covering 30 product categories, with the out-of-quota customs duty raised from 25% to 50%. The deal also introduces a mandatory "country of melt and pour" declaratory requirement on steel imports and obliges the Commission to assess, within two years, whether the country of melt-and-pour should become the basis for country-specific TRQ allocations (closing transhipment loopholes that have allowed Chinese-melted steel to enter via third-country processors). The co-legislators added a reinforced and time-bound review mechanism: a first Commission review of product scope within six months of entry into force, with subsequent biennial scope reviews thereafter. Statutorily, this is a NEW instrument — a regulation adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, not an implementing act under the WTO Agreement on Safeguards / Regulation (EU) 2015/478 — so it is filed as a new action with a `responds_to` link to the predecessor regime. Formal adoption by Council and EP plenary is expected in May 2026 ahead of the 1 July 2026 application date.

The European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/801 on 9 April 2026, imposing provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of terephthalic acid (PTA, purity ≥99.5% by weight, CAS 100-21-0, CN code ex 2917 36 00 / TARIC 2917 36 00 11) originating in the Republic of Korea and Mexico, published in the OJ on 10 April 2026 and entering into force the following day. Duty rates are exporter-specific: Korean producers face 6.2% (Samnam Petrochemical, Hanwha Impact) to 13.7% (all other), with Taekwang Industrial Co. found not to be dumping (0%); all Mexican exporting producers face a flat 25.7%. The investigation was opened 13 August 2025 following a complaint by EU producer Ineos Aromatics.

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 30 March 2026 Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) issued Notice 2026-68, imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on Thai-origin seamless copper tubes and pipes (outer diameter ≤66.68mm, wall thickness 0.20–2.50mm; HSK 7411.10.0000) for a four-month period from 30 March to 29 July 2026. The duty follows a 22 January 2026 preliminary affirmative determination by the Korea Trade Commission (KTC), which found dumping and threat of material injury to domestic producers. Rates are 3.64% for Hong Kong Hailiang Metal Trading Limited and affiliates, 8.41% for Fine Metal Technologies Public Company Limited (Thailand) and affiliates, and 3.64% for all other Thai suppliers. The investigation was initiated 12 September 2025 on a petition by domestic producers Neungwon Metal Industry and LS Metal.

The Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 471st plenary session on 26 March 2026 adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against imports of vertical articulated industrial robots (≥4 axes, 6–600 kg payload capacity) from Japan and China, recommending definitive five-year duties of 17.45–18.64% on Japanese-origin robots (Fanuc 17.45%, Yaskawa 18.64%) and 15.96–19.85% on Chinese-origin robots (KUKA Guangdong, ABB Shanghai, Kawasaki China-branch). Final duties are significantly lower than provisional duties of 21.17–43.6% imposed since November 2025 following an investigation initiated in March 2025 on petition by HD Hyundai Robotics. This is the first trade-remedy case on the register covering the industrial-automation / robotics sector.

South Korea's 13th National Strategic Technology Special Committee (chaired by MSIT) adopted the 2026 Annual Implementation Plan for the First Basic Plan for National Strategic Technology Development (2024–2028), committing KRW 8.6 trillion in 2026 R&D investment — a ~30% YoY increase from KRW 6.5 trillion in 2025 — across 19 NEXT strategic-technology fields encompassing AI, semiconductors, quantum, displays, and secondary batteries, coordinated across 23 ministries. The plan is supplemented by KRW 46.6 trillion in policy finance delivered through Korea Development Bank (KDB), Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF), and Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC), providing the horizontal funding-coordination architecture that operationalises all sector-specific Korean strategic-technology legislative instruments.

South Korea's National Assembly passed the Special Act for Korea-US Strategic Investment Management (한미 전략적 투자 관리를 위한 특별법) on 12 March 2026 by a bipartisan vote of 226-8-8, authorising a sovereign-backed US$350bn (~KRW 517tn) investment commitment to the United States over an annual US$20bn cap. The act creates the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation (한미전략투자공사), a new state-run entity with KRW 2tn (~US$1.36bn) government-financed paid-in capital, as the institutional vehicle to execute the bilateral investment MOU. Article 3 Clause 3 permits investment decisions to proceed despite insufficient commercial viability when national-security or supply-chain-stability grounds exist, subject to prior consent of the relevant National Assembly Standing Committee, operationalising the December 2025 Korea-US Strategic Trade and Investment Deal investment-pledge tranche.

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.

The European Commission on 4 March 2026 adopted COM(2026) 100 final, the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), the central horizontal industrial- policy instrument of the 2024-29 Commission term. The proposal targets raising EU manufacturing's share of GDP from 14.3% (2024) to at least 20% by 2035 via three pillars: (i) demand-side "Made in EU" and low-carbon public-procurement preferences for strategic sectors; (ii) FDI conditionality on investments above €100 million from countries with >40% global manufacturing share in batteries, EVs, solar PV or critical raw materials; (iii) accelerated permitting through a one-stop-shop and member-state-designated Industrial Acceleration Areas. The IAA is a proposal — co-decision adoption is expected mid-to-late 2027.

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).

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 12 February 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) concluded a preliminary investigation into Chinese-origin butyl acrylate imports (HS subheading 2916.12) and voted to recommend provisional anti-dumping duties of 9.53–19.17% to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF). MOEF formally decided and gazetted the provisional duty on 22 April 2026, effective from that date through 21 August 2026 pending the KTC's final determination (expected around July 2026). The case was initiated after LG Chem — the sole remaining domestic butyl acrylate producer — petitioned the KTC in July 2025, citing a roughly 25% rise in Chinese import volumes against a 30%+ drop in its own domestic sales volume between 2021 and 2024.

Brazil's Câmara de Comércio Exterior (Gecex) approved Resolução nº 848, de 29 de janeiro de 2026, amending Annexes IV (supply-shortage tariff reductions), V (Letec exceptions list) and VI (LEBIT/BK — IT/telecom and capital-goods exceptions list) of the base tariff-nomenclature resolution (Gecex nº 272/2021). The measure grants a new 0% duty-free tariff-rate quota of 2,500 tonnes/year for poly(oxyethylene) methallyl ether (HPEG, NCM 3907.29.92) through 26 November 2026; adds 0% duty treatment for an esketamine hydrochloride nasal-spray medicine (NCM 3004.90.39) and several pharmaceutical active ingredients including amprenavir and efavirenz (NCM 3004.90.78); and adds cellular base-station antennas (NCM 8517.71.20, 25,000-unit quota through 19 August 2026), diesel-electric locomotives (NCM 8602.10.00, through 25 February 2027) and panoramic maxillary X-ray equipment (NCM 9022.13.11, at a 12.6% rate) to the LEBIT/BK exceptions list. Most changes take effect 1 February 2026 (some 2 February 2026); Article 7 directs SECEX to publish complementary quota-allocation criteria.

South Korea's National Assembly passed the "Special Act on Strengthening and Supporting the Competitiveness of the Semiconductor Industry" (반도체산업 경쟁력 강화 및 지원에 관한 특별법) on 29 January 2026 by 199 votes in favour out of 206 members present, after roughly 18 months of inter-party deadlock. The act establishes (i) a Presidential Commission for Enhancing Semiconductor Competitiveness as the central inter-ministerial coordination body, (ii) a statutory five-year master plan with annual implementation plans, (iii) a dedicated semiconductor industry special account ("반도체산업 특별회계") to ring-fence funding for fabs, materials, parts and equipment, and packaging across the full memory + system-LSI + design + manufacturing supply chain, and (iv) authority to designate semiconductor clusters outside the greater Seoul area with relocation incentives. Promulgation by the Cabinet is expected shortly after passage; effectiveness contingent on enforcement-ordinance finalisation, expected Q3 2026. The KRW 2tn anchor envelope of the special account does not begin disbursing until 2027 because companion amendments to the National Finance Act were not enacted in time.

On 14 January 2026 President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 imposing a 25% ad valorem tariff on imports of certain advanced computing chips and their derivative products, effective 12:01 a.m. EST on 15 January 2026. The measure adopts findings of the Section 232 investigation initiated 1 April 2025 (Department of Commerce report transmitted 22 December 2025) into semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and derivative products. Coverage is narrowly drawn to high-performance AI accelerators meeting specified technical parameters (publicly characterised as covering devices in the NVIDIA H200 / AMD MI325X performance tier), with broad use-based exemptions for chips going into US data centres, US R&D, US repairs, and other uses deemed to strengthen domestic supply chains.

Malaysia's Ministry of Finance gazetted P.U. (A) 9/2026, the Customs (Prohibition of Imports) (Amendment) Order 2026, on 9 January 2026, taking effect 15 January 2026. The order adds 1-boc-4-piperidone and P-2-P methyl glycidic acid (BMK glycidic acid) — together with its methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl and tert-butyl esters — to the Second Schedule of the Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2017, requiring an approved permit before import. Global Trade Alert lists China, Japan and South Korea among the trade partners affected by the new licensing gate.

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.

The Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) issued Notification No. 02/2025-Customs (SG) dated 30 December 2025, imposing a definitive three-year safeguard duty on imports of "Non-Alloy and Alloy Steel Flat Products" classified under Customs Tariff headings 7208, 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225 and 7226 (hot-rolled coils/sheets/plates, hot-rolled plate-mill plates, cold-rolled coils/sheets, metallic coated sheets including galvanneal and aluminium-zinc coated, and colour-coated coils/sheets). Duty rates are graduated: 12% ad valorem for 21 April 2025 – 20 April 2026, 11.5% for 21 April 2026 – 20 April 2027, and 11% for 21 April 2027 – 20 April 2028. The notification implements the final findings of the Director General (Trade Remedies) (DGTR notification 22/01/2024-DGTR dated 16 August 2025) which concluded that imports of subject goods rose from 2.293 mt in FY 2021-22 to 6.612 mt during the period of investigation, causing serious injury and threat of serious injury to the domestic industry. The definitive measure supersedes the provisional 200-day safeguard duty imposed at 12% ad valorem from 21 April 2025 by Notification 01/2025-Customs (SG); no safeguard duty applies for the interim period between expiry of the provisional duty (early November 2025) and the day preceding Gazette publication of the definitive notification. Imports from developing-country WTO members are exempt unless the share of any individual developing country exceeds 3% of total imports of the subject goods, or the collective share of developing countries exceeding 3% individually exceeds 9% — the China and Vietnam carve-outs from this exemption preserve full applicability of the duty to the dominant cheap-import sources.

Decree reforming various tariff fractions of the General Import and Export Duties Tariff (TIGIE), published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 29 December 2025 and in force 1 January 2026. The reform, approved by Congress as a statutory amendment to the LIGIE (Chamber of Deputies and Senate, Dec 2025) and signed by President Claudia Sheinbaum, raises MFN import duties to between 5% and 50% ad valorem on 1,463 tariff lines covering more than 20 chapters of the TIGIE, spanning automotive, auto parts, textiles, apparel, footwear, steel, aluminum, plastics, paper, leather, furniture, glass, toys, appliances and cosmetics. The increases apply only to goods originating in countries without a free trade agreement with Mexico — principally China, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, the UAE, and South Africa. The decree formalises at statutory level the September 2024 Sheinbaum executive order placing a 50% duty on finished passenger vehicles from non-FTA states and is framed by the Secretaría de Economía and SHCP as the operational tariff instrument of Plan México (2025-01-21).

On 11 December 2025 the US Department of State announced the inaugural Pax Silica Summit, held in Washington D.C. on 12 December 2025, at which the United States, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Israel signed the non-binding Pax Silica Declaration. The declaration commits signatories to coordinate "trusted" supply chains across the full technology stack — software, frontier foundation models, network infrastructure, compute and semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, transportation logistics, minerals refining and processing, and energy — explicitly to reduce "coercive dependencies." The coalition has since expanded to add the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Qatar, Sweden and India (signed 20 February 2026 at the India AI Impact Summit), and on 26 March 2026 State announced a USD 250 million Pax Silica Fund intended to catalyse trusted-capital co-investment in critical-minerals processing and semiconductor supply chains.

South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance announced its 2026 annual quota-tariff (할당관세) and flexible-tariff (탄력관세) operating plan on 2 December 2025, formalized via Presidential Decree No. 35944 (issued 30 December 2025, effective 1 January 2026) under Article 71 of the Customs Act. The plan sets reduced basic-tariff rates (0-3%, down from the 3% base rate) on roughly 58 imported goods through 31 December 2026, including LNG, LPG, and crude oil for LPG manufacturing (household heating relief), and newly adds steel and automotive-sector items exposed to US tariff measures plus recycling feedstock for critical-mineral supply-chain stabilization. A supplementary Presidential Decree No. 36237 (3 April 2026) later expanded crude-oil tariff-rate-quota eligibility to restructured petrochemical firms.

Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty of 11.92–19.43% on fibreboard (wood- or other ligneous-fibre panels, thickness ≤5mm, used in furniture, interior construction fittings and packaging) imported from Thailand, effective from 28 November 2025, following a Korea Trade Commission (KTC) preliminary determination of dumping and material injury. On 12 February 2026 the KTC's 469th commission meeting issued its final determination confirming injury and voted to recommend a 5-year definitive anti-dumping duty of 15.29–22.44% to the Minister of Economy and Finance. As of this filing MOEF had not yet gazetted the definitive rate; the 11.92–19.43% provisional schedule remains the only legally operative rate. The investigation was opened on a petition by Korean fibreboard producer Unid BT Plus (유니드비티플러스).

On 26 November 2025 Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a package of measures to protect Canada's steel and softwood lumber industries, effective 26 December 2025. For steel, Canada tightened the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) available to countries without a Canada free trade agreement from 50% to 20% of 2024 import levels, and cut the TRQ for FTA partners outside CUSMA (i.e. not the US/Mexico) from 100% to 75% of 2024 levels; imports above quota face a 50% surtax. A new 25% tariff on the full value of listed steel-derivative products (doors, windows, fasteners, structural components and related goods) applies to all countries, covering an estimated CAD 10 billion+ of derivative imports. For softwood lumber, Canada added CAD 500 million to the BDC Softwood Lumber Guarantee Program (bringing it to CAD 1.2 billion) and earmarked a further CAD 500 million under the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility for lumber-sector liquidity support.

Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced the K-Shipbuilding Strategy for Next-Generation Market Dominance on 15 November 2025 at the emergency economy ministerial meeting and exports-and-investment promotion meeting. The strategy deploys KRW 710 billion (~USD 534 million) by 2028 across three policy directions: (1) technology super-gap via autonomous self-navigating vessels, zero-emission ships (LNG/ammonia/hydrogen tri-fuel), and AI-driven design and smart shipbuilding; (2) manufacturing upgrade through smart shipyard investment, robotics distribution, and improved foreign-manpower visa pathways; and (3) legal infrastructure including a new dedicated "Promotion of Industrialization and Technological Innovation of the Next-Generation Shipbuilding Industry" Act. Korea's overarching target is to capture ≥80% of the next-generation shipbuilding market, explicitly in competition with China's state-subsidised fleet expansion.

On 13 November 2025, the United States and the Republic of Korea released a Joint Fact Sheet reaffirming the July 2025 announcement of the Korea Strategic Trade and Investment Deal — the first standalone US-Korea trade-and-investment agreement since the 2012 KORUS FTA. USTR issued the implementing Federal Register notice (90 FR 55964, Notice 2025-21940) on 3 December 2025, effective 4 December 2025, with retroactive HTSUS application to 1 November 2025 for autos and auto parts and to 14 November 2025 for reciprocal-tariff goods, timber, lumber, derivatives, and certain aircraft and aircraft parts. On the US tariff side: (i) the country-specific IEEPA reciprocal tariff on Korean originating goods is set at the higher of the KORUS FTA / MFN rate or 15% (parallel to the Japan and EU framework deals); (ii) the Section 232 tariffs on autos, auto parts, timber, lumber and wood derivatives are reduced to 15% (no incremental duty when the pre-existing KORUS/MFN rate already meets or exceeds 15%); (iii) Korean exports of qualifying goods on the Potential Tariff Adjustments for Aligned Partners (PTAAP) list are exempt from reciprocal tariffs (covering generic pharmaceuticals and unavailable natural resources); (iv) Section 232 pharmaceuticals capped at 15%; semiconductors granted MFN-style "no less favourable" treatment in any future sectoral deal. On the investment side, Korea commits to a USD 350bn package: USD 150bn into US shipbuilding ("Approved Investments") plus USD 200bn into US strategic industries via a separate Strategic Investments MOU, with annual currency-funding cap of USD 20bn. Non-tariff commitments include streamlined US biotech approvals on the Korean side, US meat and cheese market access, fair treatment for US digital services, removal of Korea's 50,000-unit cap on US vehicles meeting FMVSS, and joint WTO support for the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.

On 4 November 2025 Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) launched a new "steel export supply-chain strengthening guarantee" product as part of a broader steel-industry advancement plan. POSCO and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) jointly seeded KRW 20 billion, on which the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure) built a KRW 400 billion (~USD 274 million) preferential guarantee program for small and mid-sized steel exporters and steel-derivative producers hit by tightening trade barriers abroad, chiefly the US Section 232 steel tariff regime. Benefits include interest-rate cuts of up to 2 percentage points, guarantee-period extension from 1 to 3 years, a guarantee-fee cut from 1% to 0.7%, and expanded guarantee limits.

Following an anti-dumping investigation initiated 6 February 2025 (petition by domestic producer CSC Steel Sdn Bhd) and an affirmative preliminary determination imposing provisional duties from 5 July 2025, Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) issued an affirmative final determination and imposed DEFINITIVE anti-dumping duties on imports of galvanised iron/steel coils and sheets (flat-rolled products of alloy or non-alloy steel, plated or coated with zinc via the hot-dip process) originating in or exported from China, South Korea and Vietnam. The measure runs for five years, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2030, and is enforced by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department under the Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Act 1993 and its 1994 Regulations. Definitive duty rates: China 5.60%-26.80%; South Korea 2.21%-31.47%; Vietnam -14.17% (de minimis/negative for some exporters) to 57.90%.

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) announced the 2026–2030 Basic Plan for Strengthening the Materials, Parts & Equipment (MPE / 소부장) Industry on 24 October 2025, succeeding the 2020–2025 MPE Basic Plan born from the 2019 Japan export shock. The new five-year plan targets three pillars — innovation, market, and ecosystem — to cut import dependence on 100+ strategic materials, components, and equipment items underpinning Korea's semiconductor, display, battery, and advanced-manufacturing sectors. Key instruments include ten additional MPE Specialized Clusters, 15 "Super Eul" world- leading technology projects, five AI New Materials projects, and KRW 35 billion in joint R&D funding; full annual appropriations flow through the government budget cycle.

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.

On 3 September 2025 South Korea's Financial Services Commission announced an expanded KRW 1 trillion (approx. USD 720 million) Corporate Restructuring Fund No.6 (기업구조혁신펀드 6호), scaling up from the KRW 500 billion originally budgeted in the 2025 first supplementary budget. The fund targets marginal ("한계기업") companies in six export-oriented key industries — petrochemicals, steel, automotive, semiconductors, displays and secondary batteries — whose financial position is deteriorating due to recent US tariff actions. KAMCO ran a fund-manager recruitment call from 3-24 September 2025, selecting four operators to run blind funds, with formation targeted for October 2025. At least 60% of raised capital must be invested in the six target industries, and the subordinated (first-loss) capital contribution ratio was raised from 5% to 10% versus prior restructuring funds to attract private co-investment.

On 29 August 2025 the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), a state-owned policy bank, signed a "Financial Support Business Agreement for the Activation of Technology Start-ups and Promotion of Growth" with the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KIBO/기술보증기금). The deal channels KRW 300 billion (~USD 205 million) in preferential financing to venture startups under seven years old that hold a KIBO technology guarantee, via a new "IBK Startup Loan" product launched 5 September 2025 offering interest-rate cuts of up to 1.3-1.5 percentage points and guarantee-fee/limit preferences of 0.5 percentage points.

South Korea's National Assembly passed an amendment to the Korea Development Bank (KDB) Act on 2025-08-27 (428th session, 3rd plenary sitting, 164-1 with 164 votes in favour of 165 cast), raising KDB's statutory capital ceiling from KRW 30 trillion to KRW 45 trillion and creating a new "Advanced Strategic Industry Fund" inside KDB. The fund is capitalised at KRW 50 trillion or more over five years via low-rate government-guaranteed bonds and is earmarked for the ten officially designated advanced strategic industries (AI, semiconductors, bio/vaccines, defense, robotics, hydrogen, secondary batteries, displays, future mobility) via cheap loans and equity investment. KDB intends to use the fund as seed capital for a wider "National Growth Fund" that blends in private and pension capital to reach KRW 100 trillion+ in total strategic-industry financing over five years.

On 22 August 2025 South Korea's National R&D Program Evaluation Steering Committee, convened by MOTIE, finalized an exemption from the mandatory preliminary feasibility study (예비타당성조사 면제) for the "K-On-Device AI Semiconductor Technology Development" project, clearing the roughly KRW 689.15 billion (approx. USD 496 million) program to proceed toward FY2026 budget allocation without the standard multi-year vetting delay. The project funds full-stack development — custom AI chip design, software, and modules — across four demand-anchored industries: automotive (Hyundai Motor), IoT/home appliances (LG Electronics), machinery/robotics (Doosan Robotics, Daedong), and defense (Korea Aerospace Industries). MOTIE structured the program so end-user demand companies participated directly in project planning, pairing them with domestic fabless design and foundry manufacturing firms to build a domestic on-device AI semiconductor ecosystem, ahead of full budget confirmation and formal program launch.

On 20 August 2025 Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced a supplementary KRW 100 billion (approx. USD 71.5 million) round of concessional loans under the 2025 Carbon-Neutral Transition Pioneer Project, recruiting applicants from 21 August to 19 September 2025. Loans carry a 1.3% annual interest rate, a 10-year term (3-year grace period plus 7 equal annual installments), and are capped at KRW 50 billion in facility financing per company plus a separate KRW 10 billion R&D-loan ceiling, funding greenhouse-gas-reduction facilities and R&D. EU CBAM-exposed industries, companies with government-approved business-restructuring plans, and firms selected for the "Net Zero Challenge X" program receive priority evaluation points.

Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE), a Korean government export-credit agency, announced on 4 August 2025 a US$1bn (~KRW 1.4tn) financial guarantee backing LG Chem's construction of a cathode material plant in Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee. The facility is being built in a first phase for roughly KRW 2tn, with 60,000 tons/year of NCMA (nickel-cobalt-manganese- aluminum) cathode capacity — described by K-SURE as the largest cathode material production line in the United States, sufficient for around 600,000 electric vehicles. K-SURE stated this is the first US investment guarantee issued following the Korea-US tariff negotiation, under which Seoul agreed to channel a large bilateral investment package into the United States; the guarantee lets LG Chem access lower-cost, longer-tenor financing from global banks for the project.

On 2025-06-26, South Korea's National R&D Program Evaluation General Committee approved the preliminary feasibility study (예비타당성조사) for the "Korean-style Hydrogen Reduction Steelmaking Demonstration Technology Development Project," clearing state funding of KRW 308.8 billion (part of a KRW 814.6 billion total project cost) over 2026-2030. The program funds a 300,000-tonne-scale demonstration process using the domestic FINEX process to produce hydrogen-reduced iron and molten iron from iron ore and hydrogen, plus a parallel track for small and mid-sized firms to use hydrogen-reduced iron in existing electric-arc furnaces. The technology targets a 95%+ cut in per-tonne carbon emissions versus blast-furnace steelmaking, positioning Korean steel (POSCO, Hyundai Steel) for the EU CBAM and global green-steel premium markets.