Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 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.

Via Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 26-03, series of 2026, signed on 20 May 2026, the Philippine DTI removed China and Indonesia from the list of developing countries exempt from the definitive general safeguard measure on ordinary Portland cement (Type 1) and blended cement, imposing a safeguard duty of PHP 349 per metric tonne (≈ US$6.09/t; PHP 14 per 40 kg bag) on imports from those two origins for three years. The removal follows the Philippine Tariff Commission's monitoring, which found China's share of total cement imports rising from 11% in 2025 to 23% in Q1 2026 and Indonesia's from 6% to 8% over the same period — both exceeding the 3% de minimis threshold that conferred exemption under the parent DAO 25-15. The underlying definitive safeguard, covering all non-exempt origins, first took effect in February 2026 following a serious-injury determination by the Tariff Commission.

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.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 113 on April 13, 2026, promulgating the 13th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL) — the first FINL update in four years, superseding the 12th FINL under EO 175 (2022). The order retains the constitutionally mandated 40% foreign equity ceiling on exploration, development, and utilisation of natural resources (including large-scale mining), and reserves small-scale mining 100% for Filipino nationals. It codifies liberalisations from RA 11659 (Public Service Act), RA 11595 (Retail Trade Liberalisation Act), and RA 11647 (Foreign Investments Act amendments), formally reclassifying telecommunications, airlines, domestic shipping, and railways as sectors open to up to 100% foreign ownership.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 110 on March 24, 2026, declaring a one-year State of National Energy Emergency in response to Middle East supply disruptions, including potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, that threaten petroleum import flows to the Philippines. The order activates the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT), suspends normal procurement requirements for emergency energy acquisition, grants the Department of Energy (DOE) emergency fuel-import authority, and releases a ₱20 billion emergency fund to secure fuel supply. The emergency regime also mandates accelerated renewable-energy transition and promotion of EVs in public transport to reduce long-run import dependency.

The Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry (PSEI) Roadmap 2026–2030 was presented at the 4th SEIAC meeting at Malacañang on 23 March 2026 by BOI Executive Director Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa and formally rolled out by DTI in April 2026. The Roadmap targets $110 billion in annual exports by 2030 ($70B semiconductors + $40B electronics, approximately doubling the current ~$50B baseline) via value-chain ascent from assembly-test-packaging through IC design toward front-end wafer fabrication, supported by 128,000-worker upskilling over five years and up to three national laboratories in fabrication, R&D, and talent development.

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 4 February 2026, in Washington, DC, Philippine Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Raphael P.M. Lotilla and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg signed an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on diversifying global critical-mineral supply chains and to promote bilateral investment in mapping, survey, processing, refining, and recycling of critical minerals and rare earths. The MoU was one of eleven founding-member bilateral instruments signed simultaneously at the inaugural FORGE (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) Critical Minerals Ministerial hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The framework explicitly aims to push the Philippines' mining sector beyond raw-ore export toward domestic value-add and downstream processing.

The Philippine Department of Agriculture issued Administrative Circular No. 16, Series of 2025, imposing a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) of PHP 120 per kilogram on imported carrots sold in public and private wet markets within the National Capital Region. The measure took effect 5 December 2025 and was formally circularised 23 December 2025, part of a broader end-2025 MSRP push that also covered pork and onions. It is a domestic price-stabilisation control on an imported staple vegetable rather than a border tariff or quota, but it directly affects the economics of carrot importers and NCR wet-market resellers.

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.

Republic Act 12253, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on 4 September 2025, replaces the Philippines' long-standing flat-royalty regime for large-scale metallic mining with a five-tier margin-based royalty (1–5% on income from mines outside mineral reservations; 5% retained inside reservations) layered on a five-tier windfall-profits tax (1–10% on profits above a 30% margin), and ring-fences each mining agreement as a separate taxable entity. The law amends the National Internal Revenue Code (RA 8424) and is projected to raise an additional PHP 25.08 bn over 2026–2029. The new fiscal regime became operative on 17 February 2026, 150 days after effectivity, with DOF-issued IRR.

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 Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Administrative Order No. 31 s. 2025 on 28 March 2025, establishing the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council (SEIAC) as the President's primary advisory body on semiconductor and electronics industry development, promotion, and competitiveness. The SEIAC is chaired by the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, with the DTI Secretary as Vice-Chair, and mandates the Council to provide strategic guidance for implementing the Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry (PSEI) Roadmap, coordinate inter-agency interventions across the value chain, and recommend legislative measures for sectoral competitiveness.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12066 — the CREATE MORE Act ("Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy") — on 11 November 2024, with the law taking effect on 28 November 2024. RA 12066 amends the 2021 CREATE Act (RA 11534) to extend the maximum tax-incentive availment for Registered Business Enterprises from 17 to 27 years, cuts the corporate income tax to 20% for RBEs under the Enhanced Deductions Regime (vs the standard 25% / SCIT 5%), grants a 100% additional power-expense deduction (raised from 50%) for manufacturers, expands VAT zero-rating and import VAT-exemption for export-oriented enterprises, raises the IPA approval threshold from PHP 1bn to PHP 15bn, and institutionalises work-from-home for ecozone/freeport RBEs.

On 4 June 2024 the Philippine Department of Energy issued Department Circular DC2024-06-0018, the Revised Omnibus Guidelines Governing the Award and Administration of Renewable Energy Contracts and the Registration of Renewable Energy Developers. The circular operationalises the November 2022 reinterpretation (DC2022-11-0034) under which solar, wind, biomass and ocean/tidal RE resources are excluded from the constitutional 60-40 nationality cap on natural-resource exploitation, allowing 100% foreign-owned applicants to take RE Service Contracts in those four resource classes. Geothermal RE contracts remain subject to the 60-40 Filipino-ownership requirement. The Guidelines also restructure pre-award, award and post-award procedures across the ~1,400 RE service contracts (≈154 GW) in the DOE pipeline and allow developers to begin permitting and feasibility work before the 25-year contract term formally begins.

On 15 May 2024 the NEDA Board, chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., approved a modification of Executive Order No. 12 s.2023 to expand the zero-tariff MFN regime on electric vehicles. The expansion broadens the scope from purely battery-electric four-wheeled passenger cars to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), e-motorcycles, e-bicycles, e-tricycles, e-quadricycles, nickel-metal-hydride accumulator batteries, and PHEV/BEV jeepneys and buses, with the zero MFN duty extended through 2028 (versus the five-year horizon to 2028 under the original EO 12 of 13 January 2023). The measure is a trade-flow preference designed to accelerate domestic EV adoption and attract assembly investment under the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry (CREVI); it favours Chinese, Korean, and Japanese EV exporters that dominate the addressable supply.

On 21 March 2024 the PPP Governing Board, acting as the PPP Code IRR Committee, signed the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 11966 — the Public-Private Partnership Code of the Philippines. The IRR was published in a newspaper of general circulation on 22 March 2024 and took effect on 6 April 2024, operationalising the parent law signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on 5 December 2023. The Code replaces the 1990 Build-Operate-Transfer Law (RA 6957, as amended by RA 7718) and the patchwork of agency-by-agency Joint Venture Guidelines as the single unified national framework governing all PPPs across the national government, GOCCs, state universities, and local government units — covering economic, social, and information-technology infrastructure. Key reforms include removing the prior cap on reasonable rate of return for unsolicited proposals, formalising joint-venture as a PPP modality for GOCCs, centralising contract awards under the PPP Center, and materially shortening approval timelines.

On 26 February 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 11981 ("Tatak Pinoy Act"), the first standalone national industrial policy law in Philippine history. It mandates the formulation, funding, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a multi-year Tatak Pinoy Strategy organised around five pillars (human resources, infrastructure, technology and innovation, investments, sound financial management) and establishes the Tatak Pinoy Council, chaired by the DTI Secretary with NEDA and Finance secretaries as vice-chairs. On 24 October 2025, Marcos issued Memorandum Circular No. 104 approving the implementing Tatak Pinoy Strategy and directing all national agencies, GOCCs, and LGUs to prioritise local products in procurement, with local suppliers eligible for award if their bids are within 25% of the lowest foreign offer.

Regulation (EU) 2023/2842, published in the Official Journal on 20 December 2023, is the first comprehensive recast of the EU fisheries control framework since Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and amends the IUU Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 alongside five sectoral regulations (1967/2006, 2016/1139, 2017/2403, 2019/473). Effective in phases from 10 January 2026, it mandates the CATCH electronic catch-certification IT system for ALL imports of wild-capture marine fishery products into the EU single market, replacing legacy paper catch certificates. It also introduces Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) with CCTV on high-risk EU vessels ≥18 m, full electronic reporting for all vessels by 2028, and extended Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) coverage down to vessels ≥12 m. The regulation tightens the carding regime (red/yellow cards for non-cooperating flag states under the amended IUU Regulation) and requires digital traceability end-to-end through the supply chain, raising compliance cost and market-access barriers for all non-EU seafood exporters.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 11954, the Maharlika Investment Fund Act of 2023, on 18 July 2023, establishing the Philippines' first sovereign wealth fund. The Act creates the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) with PHP 500 billion target authorised capital and PHP 125 billion paid-in capital sourced from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas dividends, Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, and national-government appropriations. The Bureau of the Treasury initially issued IRR on 28 August 2023; following a presidential suspension on 12 October 2023, the revised IRR was finalised and published in the Official Gazette on 10 November 2023. The MIC's first major strategic-stake deployment took place in January 2025 with a USD 350 million acquisition of a 20% stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), previously partly owned via State Grid Corporation of China.