Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated an anti-dumping investigation on 25 June 2026 into imports of Hot Rolled Flat Products of Alloy or Non-Alloy Steel (width ≤ 2,100 mm, thickness ≤ 25 mm; not clad, plated or coated; stainless steel excluded; HS 7208, 7211, 7225, 7226) originating in or exported from China PR, Japan and Russia, following a petition by domestic producers JSW Steel, JSW Vijayanagar Metallics and Jindal Steel Odisha. DGTR's prima-facie assessment found export prices significantly below normal value, with dumping margins above the de-minimis threshold for all three origins. The period of investigation (POI) is January–December 2025; interested parties have 30 days to register and submit questionnaire responses.

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)).

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.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) issued final findings dated 28 April 2026 in the anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of Low Ash Metallurgical Coke (ash content ≤ 18%, HS 27040010, 27040020, 27040030, 27040090) originating in or exported from Australia, China PR, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia, recommending a downward revision of the provisional anti-dumping duties previously imposed by Notification No. 41/2025-Customs (ADD) of 31 December 2025. The final findings are recommendatory; a definitive implementing customs notification from CBIC is expected before the provisional measures expire around June 2026. Significant reductions in duty rates are recommended for Indonesian and Japanese origin imports; the investigation covers six coke-exporting countries competing with domestic producers led by Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL, Jindal Steel (JSPL) and AMNS India.

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.

On 7 April 2026 the Board (Collegium) of the Eurasian Economic Commission announced a definitive anti-dumping duty of 17.23% on imports of spark plugs originating in China, entering into force 30 calendar days after official publication (implemented 10 May 2026) across the EAEU customs union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan). Annual duty-free import quotas are carved out for Armenia (500,000 units), Belarus (1.8 million units), Kazakhstan (6 million units) and Kyrgyzstan (500,000 units), subject to end-use licensing confirming the units are for motor vehicle manufacture or warranty service. The decision was adopted at the instruction of the EAEU Heads of Government to protect bloc manufacturers.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated an anti-dumping investigation on 20 March 2026 into imports of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) originating in or exported from China PR and Russia (Initiation Notification No. 6/9/2026-DGTR), exercising powers under Rule 5 of the Anti-Dumping Rules 1995 and Sections 9A–9C of the Customs Tariff Act 1975. The investigation covers PTFE in all commercial forms — granular moulding powder, fine powder, and aqueous dispersion — under HS 3904.61, with the period of investigation (POI) set as April 2024 to September 2025 (18 months) and the injury investigation period spanning 2021-22 through the POI. The investigation was filed by Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFL) and other Indian domestic fluoropolymer producers alleging material injury from dumped imports; Russia's scope is unusual for India DGTR and constitutes the first formal trade-remedy reading of Russia's PTFE export pricing.

The UK Finance Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 18 March 2026, establishes the primary statutory framework for the United Kingdom Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (UK CBAM), granting HM Revenue & Customs the assessment, collection, and enforcement powers needed to apply a carbon-content levy on imports of aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, and iron & steel from 1 January 2027. Two tranches of draft secondary legislation (the CBAM Regulations 2026 covering administration, rate calculation/carbon-price relief, emissions and verification, and transitory provisions) were published for technical consultation on 10 February 2026 (closing 24 March 2026) and again in Spring 2026 (closing 21 May 2026). The mechanism imposes a UK ETS-linked benchmark price on the embedded carbon of in-scope imports, with a credit for verified third-country carbon prices already paid, and — unlike the EU CBAM — has no transitional reporting phase and a narrower initial sectoral scope (no electricity).

Presidential Decreto 0264, signed on 16 March 2026 by President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego with Minister of Commerce Diana Marcela Morales Rojas and Minister of Finance Germán Ávila Plazas, sets a 35% MFN import duty on 14 steel and metal-mechanical subpartidas (bars, profiles, tubes, wire products, barbed wire) covering HS chapters 72-73 imported from countries with which Colombia has no free-trade agreement — primarily China, Russia, Turkey, and India. The measure is valid for one year from its entry into force (15 days after Diario Oficial publication on 16 March 2026), after which the Comité de Asuntos Aduaneros, Arancelario y de Comercio Exterior must review its impact. It partially amends Decreto 1881 de 2021 and operationalises the Política Nacional de Reindustrialización (CONPES 4129), the Petro administration's flagship programme to reduce Colombia's hydrocarbon dependence by building new domestic manufacturing capacity.

Brazil's Câmara de Comércio Exterior (Gecex) approved Resolução nº 844, de 30 de dezembro de 2025, amending Annexes IV and V of the base tariff-nomenclature resolution (Gecex nº 272/2021) to modify import tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) and duties on 15 products, effective 1 January 2026. The resolution establishes new duty-free (0%) TRQs for 11 product categories — including nutritional supplements (30 metric tons/year), animal-feed additives, contact lenses (a combined 40.375 million units/year across two NCM headings), electrical cable connectors, and glass ampoules — while removing existing duty-free quota treatment for four products (a thermal-control polyethylene film, a rubber sanitary/contraceptive item under NCM 4014.10.00, an anhydrous sodium-compound chemical under NCM 2836.20.10, and one further excluded product), whose duty reverts from 0% to the standard Mercosur Common External Tariff (TEC) rate. The measure is a routine periodic tariff-schedule maintenance action rather than a trade-remedy or policy-driven restriction.

On 24 December 2025 the Collegium (Board) of the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted Decision No. 137, splitting five broad EAEU Common Customs Tariff commodity codes (covering magnesium oxide, paints, leather/textile-treatment preparations and SBS block copolymer) into narrower codes limited to leather-footwear-industry end use, and assigning several of the new codes a "109С" zero import-duty rate (versus a standard 5-6.5% MFN rate for the same goods in other end uses) running through 31 December 2028. The Collegium decision was gated to take effect only once the EEC Council's parallel Decision No. 13 (signed 30 January 2026, published 26 February 2026) on the same tariff-nomenclature and chemical-industry line items entered into force; both took effect together on 8 March 2026 across all five EAEU member states (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan).

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.

On 14 October 2025 the Board (Collegium) of the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted Decision No. 96 imposing five-year definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of titanium dioxide pigment (80%+ TiO2 dry-weight content, HS 3206 11 000 0) originating in China and entering the EAEU customs territory (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan). Duty rates are 14.27% for the LB Group (Henan Billions / Lomon Billions and named subsidiaries) and 16.25% for Shandong Dawn Titanium Industry and all other Chinese producers. Price undertakings were approved for the LB Group and Shandong Dawn Titanium, exempting compliant volumes from duty. The decision entered into force 16 November 2025, 30 days after official publication, following an investigation initiated 17 August 2023.

On 7 October 2025 the Board (Collegium) of the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted Decision No. 89, setting 2026 tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for beef, pork, poultry and whey imports into the EAEU customs territory and their distribution among the five member states. Kyrgyzstan's national duty-free quota for frozen chicken cuts (halves/quarters/leg portions) was cut from 58,000 to 48,000 tonnes for 2026 -- a 17.2% reduction -- while Kazakhstan's and Russia's chicken-cut allocations (128,000t and 250,000t respectively) and other member states' beef/pork lines were left unchanged or increased. Imports above the reduced quota face the EAEU's higher out-of-quota duty rate. The decision entered into force 9 November 2025, 30 days after official publication, and governs the calendar-year 2026 quota period.

On 2025-09-10 the Russian government adopted Resolution No. 1396, amending Resolution No. 2240 (2022-12-07), which raised import customs duty rates on selected goods from "unfriendly states." The duty on malt beer (HS 2203) rose from EUR 1.0/litre to EUR 1.5/litre and on cider and similar sparkling/still beverages (HS 2206) from 22.5% to 30% of customs value. The resolution also set new duty rates on automotive semi-trailers (HS 8716) of 35% of customs value for units exceeding 15 tonnes gross weight and at least 13.6 m in length, and 20% for refrigerated semi-trailers with cargo volume of at least 76 m³; Hungary and Slovakia were excluded from the "unfriendly state" designation for these lines. The measure entered into force on 2025-09-20, seven days after official publication, and was set to run through 2025-12-31 (subsequently extended to 2027-12-31 by a later resolution).

On 2025-08-30 the Russian government adopted Resolution No. 1341, amending the standing "unfriendly states" import-duty schedule (Resolution No. 2240 of 2022-12-07) to raise customs duty rates on selected oils, fats and bottled drinking water originating from states Russia designates as "unfriendly." Coconut oil and palm kernel oil rose to 25% of customs value (palm kernel oil subject to a EUR 0.56/kg floor); margarine rose from 15% (min EUR 0.12/kg) to 25% (min EUR 0.90/kg); non-carbonated natural mineral water rose to 20% of customs value (EUR 0.11-0.18/litre floor depending on packaging). The resolution entered into force on 2025-09-09.

The US Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that unwrought palladium from Russia is being sold in the United States at less than fair value, setting a preliminary weighted-average dumping margin and cash-deposit rate of 132.83% ad valorem for the Russia-wide entity (calculated using facts available with adverse inferences after no respondent cooperated). The investigation covered the January 1 - June 30, 2025 period and was applicable from 2026-02-19. Commerce confirmed the same 132.83% margin in its final determination (2026-05-01), but the US International Trade Commission subsequently found no material injury to the US industry (2026-05-29), so no antidumping duty order was issued and the cash-deposit requirement was discontinued.

The US Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that Russian producers and exporters of unwrought palladium receive countervailable subsidies, and set a preliminary all-others countervailing duty cash-deposit rate of 109.10% ad valorem (the same rate applied to the two named respondents, JSC Urals Innovative Technologies and Prioksky Plant of Non-Ferrous Metals, both calculated using facts available with adverse inferences). The investigation was initiated 2025-08-19 covering the 2024 calendar-year period, with the preliminary determination effective 2026-03-11. A companion antidumping duty investigation on the same product ran in parallel; Commerce issued its final affirmative CVD determination on 2026-05-20.

Regulation (EU) 2025/1227, published 20 June 2025, imposes an additional 50% ad valorem customs duty on top of the standard Common Customs Tariff rate on roughly 101 tariff lines of agricultural products originating in or exported from Russia or Belarus, closing the remaining gap in the agri-tariff regime first opened in 2024. Fertilisers from the two countries face a separate, gradually escalating specific duty — starting around EUR 40-45 per tonne on top of the existing 6.5% ad valorem rate for the 2025-26 period, rising in annual steps to EUR 430 per tonne by 2028. The measure enters into force 1 July 2025 and is explicitly framed by the Council and Parliament as a further squeeze on Russian export revenue used to fund the war against Ukraine, extending the July 2024 agri-tariff regulation (EU) 2024/1392 to cover the products it left out.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/612 of 24 March 2025 amends the EU steel safeguard regime first imposed by Regulation (EU) 2019/159, materially tightening the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system that governs imports across 26 product categories of finished and semi-finished steel. The Commission cuts the annual liberalisation rate (the volume by which TRQs grow each year) from 1% to 0.1%, effectively freezing the in-quota volumes available to third-country exporters at near-current levels through the safeguard's expiry on 30 June 2026. The regulation also repeals the carry-over mechanism that previously allowed unused quarterly TRQ volumes to roll into the next quarter for product categories under significant import pressure, and eliminates the ability of exporting countries to access the residual (other-country) quota in the final quarter of each safeguard year for those categories. The latter change forecloses the route by which Chinese, Indian, Turkish, Korean and Vietnamese mills had increasingly back-filled into unused Russian and Belarusian quota allocations after the 2022 sanctions disruption. Most adjustments enter into force on 1 April 2025; the slower liberalisation pace and the carry-over removal in the most pressured categories take effect 1 July 2025. The measure is the headline trade-policy deliverable of the European Steel and Metals Action Plan unveiled by the Commission on 19 March 2025, and it is explicitly framed as a defensive response to (i) global overcapacity in Chinese steel and (ii) anticipated trade diversion into the EU after the United States reinstated universal 25% Section 232 steel/aluminum tariffs on 12 March 2025. Above-quota imports remain subject to the 25% out-of-quota duty inherited from the 2019 safeguard.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT), under Chairman Dr. Majed Alkassabi, issued a final affirmative determination imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on Sulphonated Naphthalene Formaldehyde (SNF) — a concrete superplasticiser/water- reducing admixture — originating in or exported from China and Russia. The decision was published in the official gazette on 2 December 2024 and took effect 3 December 2024, directing the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority to collect duties in the range of 18.12%-34% for five years (to 2 December 2029). The investigation was initiated 20 November 2023 following a complaint from the Saudi domestic industry.

The Türkiye Ministry of Trade's Imports General Directorate published Communiqué No. 2024/33 in Resmî Gazete No. 32689 on 11 October 2024, imposing definitive ad valorem anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled flat steel products originating in the People's Republic of China, India, Japan and the Russian Federation. Duties range from 6.10% to 43.31% CIF and run for a five-year initial term from the date of publication, subject to interim or expiry review. The measure covers roughly 90 tariff lines under CN/HS chapters 7208, 7211, 7212, 7225 and 7226 — the principal hot-rolled flat-steel customs codes. China-origin producers face the widest dispersion (residual 43.31% on unsampled producers, named-producer rates 15–36%); Japan applies a flat 9% to all producers; India and Russia residuals sit at 9% with named- producer rates as low as 6.0–6.10%. Imports of "plate rolled in a plate mill" accompanied by a Producer's Certificate under Notice 2002/1 are exempt. The petition was filed by TÇÜD (Türkiye Çelik Üreticileri Derneği — Turkish Steel Producers' Association) on behalf of integrated mills Erdemir, İsdemir, Çolakoğlu, Habaş and Tosçelik, and addresses Chinese HRC diversion to the Türkiye market following US Section 232 steel tariffs and EU CBAM/safeguard tightening.