Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2665 actions· ✨ 90 recent

On 10 February 2026 in Baku, US Vice President JD Vance and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership — a foundational bilateral instrument covering five cooperation tracks: economy and trade, energy, connectivity and digital development (including AI), security and defense, and critical-minerals transit. The Charter commits both governments to facilitate the transit of critical minerals via the Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor to global markets, and formally recognises the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) as the multi-modal connectivity link between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The instrument builds on the 8 August 2025 MoU signed in Washington during the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Summit that established the Strategic Working Group tasked with drafting the Charter, and marks the first US Vice-Presidential visit to Azerbaijan since Dick Cheney in 2008.

On 9 February 2026 USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Bangladesh Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between the United States and Bangladesh in Washington DC — USTR's first ART signing in South Asia, preceding the US-India interim-trade-framework finalisation by three days. The deal locks the US reciprocal tariff on Bangladesh-originating goods at 19% (down from 35% under the April 2025 IEEPA regime) and establishes a zero-percent mechanism for products on the Annex III aligned- partner list (EO 14346, 5 September 2025). Bangladesh commits to significant preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural goods — including chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, medical devices, ICT equipment, energy products, soy, dairy, beef, poultry, tree nuts, and fruit — and to eliminating specified non- tariff barriers including acceptance of US Federal motor-vehicle safety and emissions standards, FDA certificates, and prior marketing authorisations for medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14382, "Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of Iran," on 6 February 2026 (effective 12:01 a.m. EST on 7 February 2026; published in the Federal Register on 11 February 2026 as FR doc 2026-02813, 91 FR 6493-6496). Invoking IEEPA, the National Emergencies Act, section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 and 3 U.S.C. § 301, the order declared a country-specific national emergency with respect to Iran and established a secondary-tariff-authority framework: an additional ad valorem duty (the EO offers "for example, 25 percent" as illustration but sets no binding rate) is authorised on imports of articles produced by any foreign country determined to directly or indirectly purchase, import, or otherwise acquire any goods or services from Iran. Determinations are made by the Secretary of Commerce, with rate recommendations from the Secretary of State in consultation with Treasury, DHS and USTR; the President retains final authority. EO 14382 was structurally modelled on EO 14245 (Venezuelan oil importing countries, 24 March 2025) and EO 14380 (Cuba, 29 January 2026), and was on the list of nine IEEPA-based tariff EOs whose tariff component was vacated by the SCOTUS 6-3 ruling in *Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump* (20 February 2026). The companion EO 14389 of 20 February 2026 ("Ending Certain Tariff Actions") extinguished the tariff authority for entries on or after 12:00 a.m. ET on 24 February 2026; the underlying Iran national- emergency declaration was preserved. No third-country determination or specific rate was operationalised under EO 14382 prior to vacatur.

On 6 February 2026 Presidents Trump and Modi announced a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement that resets the bilateral tariff posture installed in 2025. Two operative instruments: (i) an executive order signed 6 February eliminating, effective 7 February 2026, the additional 25% IEEPA "Russian-oil" duty on Indian imports imposed by EO 14329 (27 August 2025), conditional on India's commitment to cease buying Russian crude and to expand defence cooperation; and (ii) reduction of the EO 14257 reciprocal-tariff rate on India from 25% to 18% on listed product categories (textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastics and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, certain machinery), to take effect on finalisation of the Interim Agreement. India commits to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of agricultural products (DDGs, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine, spirits) and to purchase >USD 500bn of US energy, ICT, coal, aircraft and aircraft parts, and precious-metals products over five years. The framework also commits the parties to negotiating "robust, ambitious, and mutually beneficial digital trade rules" and to addressing non-tariff barriers in medical devices, ICT import licensing, and food/agricultural standards. US tariff reductions on Indian generic pharmaceuticals, gems, diamonds, aircraft parts, and certain automotive components are flagged as contingent on completion of the full Interim Agreement.

On 6 February 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a USD 14,076,031 grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) to Coherent Corp. to accelerate scaled production of 6-inch Indium Phosphide (InP) wafers at its Sherman, Texas facility. The grant supports a broader USD 154 million capital-investment project that will establish what the announcement describes as the world's first 6-inch InP wafer fabrication plant, consolidating Coherent's North American semiconductor operations. InP wafers underpin photonics components used in data-center interconnects, telecommunications, AI compute networking, advanced sensing, and 6G wireless/satellite links. TSIF was established under the Texas CHIPS Act signed by Abbott in 2023.

On 4 February 2026, Argentina and the United States signed the Framework Instrument for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals at the inaugural FORGE Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, DC. The instrument commits both parties to cooperation across the critical-minerals supply chain — exploration, mining, processing, refining, and value-added manufacturing — with lithium and copper as the primary strategic targets given Argentina's position as the world's fourth-largest holder of lithium reserves and an emerging copper producer in the Salta, Catamarca, and San Juan provinces. The framework is one of eleven founding bilateral instruments signed simultaneously under the FORGE (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) architecture and operationalises the Trump-Milei strategic alignment as a binding supply-chain coordination instrument. Argentina's mining-export trajectory is projected to surpass USD 20bn over the next seven years under the combined RIGI + bilateral-framework investment pull.

The Cook Islands and United States signed a non-binding Framework for Engagement and Cooperation on 4–5 February 2026, on the sidelines of the 2026 US Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC, to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals, rare earths, and deep-sea minerals. The framework establishes a US–Cook Islands Working Group, promotes joint research, geological mapping and information sharing, encourages responsible investment aligned with high ESG standards, and supports development of secure, diversified and resilient critical minerals supply chains. Uniquely among the eleven bilaterals signed at the Ministerial, the Framework explicitly recognises the Cook Islands' leadership in ocean governance and reaffirms the Cook Islands' full sovereign control over its seabed minerals and decision-making — a sovereignty- preservation clause that distinguishes it from other Feb-2026 cohort instruments.

On 4 February 2026, Ecuador and the United States signed a bilateral critical minerals cooperation framework at the inaugural FORGE (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC, committing both parties to cooperation across exploration, mining, processing, refining, and value-added manufacturing of critical minerals. The instrument is the eleventh and final founding bilateral signed under the FORGE architecture, completing the cohort of 11 bilateral frameworks established at the Ministerial. Ecuador's strategic profile centres on Tier-1 porphyry copper-gold deposits (Mirador, San Carlos-Panantza, Cascabel) and emerging rare-earth-bearing carbonatites, with the framework opening access to approximately USD 10 billion in EXIM Bank and DFC financing for Ecuadorean critical-minerals projects.

On 4 February 2026, Paraguay and the United States signed a bilateral critical minerals cooperation framework at the inaugural FORGE Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC, committing both parties to cooperation across exploration, mining, processing, refining, and value-added manufacturing of critical minerals. The instrument is one of eleven founding bilateral frameworks signed simultaneously under the FORGE (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) architecture, establishing the US–Paraguay axis as the penultimate cohort entry. Paraguay's strategic relevance is anchored in emerging titanium- and rare-earth-bearing alkaline carbonatite complexes (Cerro Curuzú, Cerro Sarambí) and its position as a Plata Basin hinterland jurisdiction for the South American lithium-triangle supply chain, while the framework simultaneously operationalises the Trump-Peña strategic alignment and Paraguay's status as one of two Latin American jurisdictions that formally recognises Taiwan.

The UAE and United States signed a bilateral Framework on Securing Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths on 4 February 2026, on the sidelines of the 2026 US Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC. The framework coordinates a joint UAE-US approach across mining, separation, processing, recycling, and downstream activities, leveraging UAE strategic reserves alongside US industrial demand and stockpiling infrastructure. Both parties committed to mobilise public and private investment via financing, guarantees, equity investments, offtake arrangements, insurance, and regulatory facilitation, and to streamline permitting and protect supply chains from non-market practices. Within six months, both parties intend to identify priority projects for financing, and to cooperate on recycling technology, geological mapping, and national security asset-review procedures.

The United Kingdom and the United States signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding on critical minerals in Washington DC on 4 February 2026 at the 2026 US Critical Minerals Ministerial. The MOU commits both Participants to intensify cooperative efforts to accelerate the secure supply of critical minerals and rare earths for defence manufacturing and advanced technologies, mobilising government financial tools (guarantees, loans, equity investments, offtake arrangements, insurance) and streamlining permitting timelines. On the UK side, the Department for Business and Trade committed up to £50 million in new funding to support critical mineral projects following the 2025 Spending Review. The instrument also includes a commitment to cooperate on price-floor mechanisms — the first bilateral price-floor cooperation filing on the IPTM register — as part of a broader US-led plurilateral initiative to establish reference prices countering non-market overproduction.

In a final rule published in the Federal Register on 4 February 2026 (effective 3 February 2026), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) deleted the "X" designation for Cambodia from Country Group D:5 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), removing Cambodia from the EAR's list of arms-embargoed destinations. The action conforms the EAR to a Department of State final rule of 7 November 2025, which removed Cambodia as an arms-embargoed destination under International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) §126.1. Cambodia remains designated in Country Group D:1 and remains subject to the military and military-intelligence end-use/end-user controls in EAR §§744.21 and 744.22.

On 4 February 2026, in Washington, DC, Guinea's Minister of Mines and Geology Bouna Sylla and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg signed an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on critical-mineral supply chains, covering exploration, extraction, processing, and downstream investment. 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. Guinea holds approximately 26% of global bauxite reserves (~3.7bn tonnes) and is the world's largest bauxite exporter and #2 alumina exporter, making it the choke-point upstream node for any non-Chinese aluminium value chain.

On 4 February 2026 USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard announced a U.S.-Mexico Action Plan on Critical Minerals — a first-of-its-kind 60-day bilateral work programme to develop coordinated trade policies and supply-chain mechanisms for critical minerals. The Action Plan tasks both governments with identifying a priority mineral list, exploring border-adjusted price floors as a candidate trade instrument, and consulting on how price floors could be incorporated into a binding plurilateral agreement on trade in critical minerals. It is framed as a confidence- building measure ahead of the USMCA Joint Review (statutory deadline 1 July 2026) and as the Mexico-side template that parallels concurrent USTR engagements with the EU and Japan.

On 4 February 2026, in Washington, DC, the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco signed an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on critical-mineral and rare-earth supply chains, covering exploration, extraction, processing, and downstream investment. 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. Morocco holds approximately 70-75% of the world's known phosphate reserves and is a globally significant cobalt, copper, and nickel producer; the framework explicitly aims to attract Western investment into Moroccan downstream processing capacity rather than raw-mineral export.

On 4 February 2026, in Washington, DC, Peru and the United States signed an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on critical-mineral supply chains, covering exploration, extraction, processing, and downstream investment. 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, with Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and USTR Jamieson Greer. Peru is the world's second-largest copper producer (~12% of mined supply), a top-two silver and zinc producer, the leading Latin American gold producer, and a globally significant source of tin, molybdenum, and lead — making it the most strategically important Latin American signatory of the FORGE founding cohort alongside Argentina.

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.

On 4 February 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE) at the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, DC, attended by representatives from 54 countries and the European Commission. FORGE is the successor to the 2022 Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) and is structured as a plurilateral coalition that creates a preferential trade-and-investment zone for critical minerals, including coordinated price-floor mechanisms designed to counter adversarial market manipulation — explicitly framed against Chinese mineral-supply dominance. The Republic of Korea chairs FORGE through June 2026. Eleven bilateral critical-minerals frameworks/MoUs were signed simultaneously (Argentina, Cook Islands, Ecuador, Guinea, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, UAE, UK, Uzbekistan), and FORGE is paired with Project Vault, an EXIM Bank direct loan facility of up to USD 10 billion to back FORGE-aligned critical-mineral projects.

On 4 February 2026, in Washington, DC, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov signed an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding on Securing Supply in the Mining and Processing 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 and supersedes the September 2024 Biden-era US-Uzbekistan critical-minerals MoU. On 18 February 2026, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and EXIM signed Heads of Terms with Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade and the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan establishing a Joint Investment Framework — including a proposed U.S.–Uzbekistan Joint Investment Holding Company — covering critical minerals (exploration, extraction, processing), infrastructure, and energy under a three-year Economic Cooperation Programme valued at up to USD 35bn.

On 3 February 2026, Glencore and the US-government-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (led by Orion Resource Partners LP and the DFC) signed a non-binding MOU for Orion CMC to acquire a 40% stake in Glencore's DRC interests — Mutanda Mining (Mumi) and Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) — implying a combined enterprise value of approximately $9 billion. The transaction directly operationalises the December 2025 US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement at the equity level, giving the US government-backed buyer rights to appoint non-executive directors and to direct its share of copper and cobalt production to US-aligned offtakers. In 2025, Mumi and KCC together produced 247.8 kt copper metal and 33.5 kt cobalt, making this the largest single US critical-mineral equity-capture move in the DRC to date.

On 2 February 2026, Japan Investment Corporation (JIC), Japan's state-owned risk-capital vehicle, announced a USD 50 million limited-partner commitment to Lux Ventures IX, L.P. ("Lux9"), a fund managed by US deep-tech venture firm Lux Capital Management, LLC. Lux9 was established in December 2025 with a 10-year term (extendable up to two years) and focuses on seed and early-stage deep-tech investments. JIC frames the commitment as a way to connect Japanese deep-tech startups with overseas capital and expertise for global expansion, drawing on Lux's 20-plus years of deep-tech investing to help cultivate Japanese unicorns and deepen ties between Lux and domestic Japanese VCs.

On 2 February 2026 the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Board approved a Direct Loan of up to USD 10 billion to an independently governed public-private partnership establishing the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve ("Project Vault"), alongside nearly USD 2 billion of private-sector investment for an envelope of approximately USD 12 billion. The reserve will physically stockpile the 60 minerals on the USGS 2025 Critical Minerals List across multiple US storage facilities, with participating original equipment manufacturers (Clarios, GE Vernova, Western Digital, Boeing) committing to specific volumes and grades and trading partners (Hartree Partners, Mercuria Americas, Traxys) handling sourcing. EXIM characterises the transaction as the largest single financing in its 92-year history and the first use of EXIM authority as the financing vehicle for a domestic strategic-minerals stockpile rather than for export-credit insurance abroad.

The US Department of War awarded 5N Plus Inc. (Montreal-headquartered, TSX: VNP) an USD 18.1 million Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III grant to expand germanium recovery and refining capacity at its St. George, Utah facility. The award, announced 30 January 2026 under the "Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production" executive order, funds a roughly sevenfold expansion of zone-refining capacity to more than 20 metric tons of high-purity germanium per year over 48 months, sourced from industrial residues and mining by-products. The germanium feeds optical and solar-cell germanium crystal supply chains used in defense applications.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, via Governor Josh Shapiro's office and the Department of Community & Economic Development, assembled a $100 million public incentive package — up to $50 million via the PA Edge Tax Credit Program, a $25 million PA SITES (Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites) grant, a $25 million Pennsylvania First grant, and up to $5 million via the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) for workforce development — to secure a $3.5 billion private investment from Eli Lilly and Company, the company's first manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. The 925,000-square-foot facility will be built at the Fogelsville Corporate Center in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County, to produce next-generation weight-loss medicines, creating at least 850 new jobs over five years. It is the largest life-sciences investment in Pennsylvania history.

The US Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that countervailable subsidies are being provided to Indian producers and exporters of oleoresin paprika (a spice-extract colorant/flavoring used in processed food, following a petition by domestic producer Rezolex, Ltd. Co.). Commerce set preliminary subsidy-rate cash-deposit requirements of 18.56% for Mane Kancor Ingredients Private Limited, 25.41% for Synthite Industries Pvt. Ltd, and 22.95% for all other Indian exporters, triggering suspension of liquidation on covered entries effective 2026-02-06. Commerce also made an affirmative critical-circumstances finding in part, allowing retroactive duty application. The investigation was initiated 2025-07-15; a final determination was originally scheduled for 2026-06-15, aligned with a companion antidumping investigation on the same product.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14380, "Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of Cuba," on 29 January 2026 (effective 12:01 a.m. EST on 30 January 2026; published in the Federal Register on 3 February 2026 as FR doc 2026-02250, 91 FR 5085-5089). Invoking IEEPA and the National Emergencies Act, the order declared a country-specific national emergency with respect to Cuba, citing Havana's intelligence and defense alignment with Russia, the PRC, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah — including the Russian signals-intelligence facility hosted on the island. The operative measure was a secondary-tariff-authority framework: the EO authorises additional ad valorem duties on goods imported from any country determined to be selling or otherwise providing oil to the Government of Cuba, whether directly or indirectly. No specific rate was set in the EO itself — rate-setting was delegated to the Secretary of Commerce (in consultation with State, Treasury, DHS and USTR). The EO was structurally analogous to EO 14245 (Venezuelan oil importing countries, 24 March 2025) and was on the list of nine IEEPA-based tariff EOs whose tariff component was vacated by the SCOTUS 6-3 ruling in *Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump* (20 February 2026); the underlying Cuba national-emergency declaration was preserved by the 20 February 2026 "Ending Certain Tariff Actions" EO, but the tariff authority was extinguished before any third-country determination or rate was operationalised.

The US Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that oleoresin paprika from India is being sold in the United States at less than fair value, setting estimated weighted-average dumping margins of 3.33% for Mane Kancor Ingredients Private Ltd, 5.66% for Synthite Industries Pvt. Ltd, and 4.60% for all other Indian exporters (period of investigation: 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025). Commerce made a preliminary negative critical-circumstances finding and, because it offsets antidumping cash deposits by the export-subsidy rate already countervailed in the companion CVD proceeding, the effective cash-deposit rate for all three respondent tiers is currently 0.00%. Suspension of liquidation applies to covered entries from the notice's 2026-04-02 publication date; this is the antidumping companion to the CVD preliminary determination filed 2026-02-06 in this register.

The US Department of Commerce's CHIPS Program Office, invoking authority under the CHIPS and Science Act, signed a non-binding letter of intent on 2026-01-26 to provide USA Rare Earth with up to $277 million in direct federal funding and a $1.3 billion senior secured loan. The funding backs a "mine-to-magnet" vertically integrated supply chain: a rare earth mine at Round Top, Texas (commercial production targeted 2028) and a neodymium-iron-boron magnet and rare-earth-metals manufacturing facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In exchange, Commerce receives roughly 16.1 million USAR common shares and warrants for a further 17.6 million shares. The agreements were finalized as definitive on 2026-06-03, unlocking access to up to $1.6 billion combined with the federal award, alongside a separately raised $1.5 billion in private capital.

On 2026-01-26 the US Department of Commerce initiated antidumping (LTFV) and countervailing duty investigations covering van-type trailers and subassemblies thereof from Canada, China, and Mexico, following a petition filed 2025-11-20 by the American Trailer Manufacturers Coalition (Great Dane, Stoughton Trailers, Wabash National). On 2026-06-15 Commerce issued its preliminary affirmative LTFV determination for China, setting a preliminary antidumping duty rate of 130.76% on Chinese van-type trailer imports, effective on publication and triggering CBP duty collection at the border. Companion countervailing-duty and Canada/Mexico proceedings are tracked separately.

On 2026-01-26 the US Department of Commerce initiated countervailing duty (anti-subsidy) investigations covering van-type trailers and subassemblies thereof from Canada, China, and Mexico, companion to the antidumping investigation covering the same product and countries. On 2026-06-05 Commerce published preliminary affirmative CVD determinations: China received an 82.37% subsidy rate for CIMC Baowell Industries/Qingdao CIMC Reefer Trailer and all other exporters, and a 128.78% adverse-inference rate for non-responsive companies; Mexico received rates of 1.90-1.95% for cooperating respondents (Hyundai de Mexico, Utility Trailer Manufacturing de México) and a 62.67% adverse-inference rate for five non-responsive companies. The Canada CVD investigation was terminated on 2026-05-27 after the petitioner withdrew that portion of the petition. Cash deposits at the preliminary rates began on Federal Register publication; final CVD determinations are scheduled for 2026-08-24 (China) and 2026-10-13 (Mexico).

On January 23, 2026, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated eight vessel-owning/management firms — based in the UAE, India, Oman, the Seychelles, and the Marshall Islands — and identified nine of their tankers as blocked property, for transporting hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian crude oil, LPG, naphtha and high-sulfur fuel oil to buyers across East Asia, South Asia and East Africa. The action was taken under Executive Order 13902 (Iran petroleum/petrochemical sector) as part of the maximum-pressure campaign under National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, and OFAC concurrently issued General License T authorizing limited safety, environmental and cargo-offloading transactions involving the newly blocked vessels.

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.

The US Department of Commerce published its final affirmative countervailing-duty (CVD) determination on animal feed-grade L-lysine from China (case C-570-216) on 23 July 2026, the companion subsidy proceeding to the parallel antidumping case (A-570-215) finalized the same day. Commerce found Heilongjiang Wanlirunda Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and Shouguang Golden-land Industry & Trading Co., Ltd. received countervailable subsidies at 82.11%, while Inner Mongolia Eppen Biotech Co., Ltd. and all other Chinese producers/exporters were assigned a 48.21% subsidy rate. The preliminary CVD determination, published 22 January 2026, set the initial cash-deposit rates and suspension of liquidation; the final determination confirmed and aligned the case with the AD final determination for a joint ITC injury vote.

BIS issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) on 21 January 2026 (effective 20 January 2026) easing Export Administration Regulations (EAR) controls on certain civil unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and related technology. The IFR makes two changes: (i) ECCN 9A012.a.1 commercial UAVs with maximum endurance under one hour can now be exported License-Free (NLR) to most Wassenaar Arrangement Participating States (Country Group A:1, excluding Malta, Russia, Ukraine), versus the prior limitation to UK / Australia / Canada only; and (ii) License Exception STA (Strategic Trade Authorization) is expanded to cover certain MT-controlled UAVs that cannot deliver a 500kg payload to 300+ km — including long-range cargo-delivery drones and ECCN 9A120 agricultural-spraying UAVs — for export to Country Group A:5 partners and allies. The IFR implements the export-promotion directive in §6 of EO 14307 (Unleashing American Drone Dominance, 6 June 2025). Comment period closes 19 February 2026.

On 16 January 2026, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 21 individuals and entities and identified one vessel for transferring oil products, procuring weapons and dual-use equipment, and providing financial services to Iran-backed Ansarallah (the Houthis). Designated parties — oil-trading and exchange companies, a shipping/logistics facilitator, and front-company operatives — are based in Yemen, Oman, and the UAE, and are accused of running an oil-sales and financial- facilitation network that Treasury says generates the Houthis over $2 billion in annual illicit revenue. The action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (as amended) and builds on a multi-year cadence of prior OFAC designations against Houthi leaders, smugglers, financiers, and weapons-procurement suppliers.

The US Department of Commerce issued affirmative preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) determinations on hardwood and decorative plywood from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, finding countervailable government subsidies in all three countries. Preliminary subsidy rates are 81.34% for China, 2.40% to 128.66% for Indonesia (case-by-case, non-cooperating producer PT Mustika Buana Sejahtera at the top of the range), and 4.37% to 26.75% for Vietnam. Commerce published the determinations in the Federal Register on 22 January 2026, triggering CBP collection of cash deposits at these rates pending final determinations. A parallel antidumping (AD) investigation on the same product and countries runs on a separate track (see responds_to) with preliminary AD margins of 187.27% (China), up to 84.94% (Indonesia), and 196.14% (Vietnam) announced 25 February 2026 — AD and CVD duties stack cumulatively.

On 15 January 2026, Canada's Minister of Housing and Infrastructure announced the federal government's CAD 950.9 million contribution — matched by a CAD 950 million Ontario investment, for a combined CAD 1.9 billion — toward the Toronto Transit Commission's contract with Alstom Americas for 55 new subway trains (New Subway Train / Line 2 fleet). The procurement is publicized as the first implementation instance of the Buy Canadian Procurement Policy Framework (in force since 16 December 2025): TTC states 55% of train content will be Canadian-sourced, with final assembly at Alstom's Thunder Bay, Ontario plant and testing in Kingston, Ontario, creating roughly 900+ direct and 1,700+ indirect jobs. Global Trade Alert logs the intervention as a public-procurement localisation measure affecting India and the United States as the countries where Alstom's competing manufacturing bases (and rival bidders) would otherwise have supplied the contract.

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 18 individuals and entities that make up the "rahbar" shadow-banking networks of sanctioned Iranian banks Bank Melli and Shahr Bank, including Singapore-based Golden Mist PTE Ltd, UAE-based Empire International Trading FZE and HMS Trading FZE, Iran-based Nikan Pezhvak Aria Kish Company and Tejarat Hermes Energy Qeshm, and UK-based Nanshan Ltd. Separately, OFAC designated senior Iranian security officials, including SCNS Secretary Ali Larijani, for their role in the regime's violent crackdown on peaceful protesters that began in December 2025. The financial designations were made under E.O. 13902 (Iran's financial/petroleum/petrochemical sectors) and the human-rights designations under E.O. 13553 and E.O. 13876, in furtherance of NSPM-2; Treasury noted it sanctioned more than 875 persons, vessels, and aircraft under the same maximum-pressure campaign in 2025.

On 14 January 2026 President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 titled "Adjusting Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and Their Derivative Products into the United States". Unlike the parallel 14 January 2026 semiconductor proclamation and the subsequent April 2026 pharmaceutical proclamation, the PCMDP proclamation does NOT immediately impose tariffs. Instead it directs the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to jointly negotiate bilateral and plurilateral supply agreements with trading partners, with an initial 180-day status report due 13 July 2026. The proclamation reserves residual authority to impose tariffs if negotiations fail or prove ineffective, and explicitly contemplates "price floors" on PCMDP imports as a negotiated instrument.

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.

On 14 January 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a USD 15.2 million grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) to Tekscend Photomask Round Rock Inc., a subsidiary of Japan's Toppan Holdings, to expand photomask production capacity at its Round Rock manufacturing facility. The grant supports a broader USD 223 million capital-investment expansion that increases existing facility capacity by more than 40%, modernizes equipment, and extends technology capability down to the 12nm node, and is expected to create 50 jobs. TSIF was established under the Texas CHIPS Act signed by Abbott in 2023.

The US Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule (RIN 0694-AK43, 91 FR 1684, signed 13 January 2026, effective 15 January 2026) revising the EAR license-review policy for exports of certain advanced-computing integrated circuits to end-users in China and Macau from a presumption of denial to case-by-case review. Eligibility is limited to commodities controlled under ECCN 3A090.a and 3A090.b with a Total Processing Performance (TPP) below 21,000 and total DRAM bandwidth below 6,500 GB/s — the band that covers NVIDIA H200 and AMD MI325X-equivalents and below. To qualify, exporters must certify (i) sufficiency of US supply such that the export will not delay domestic orders or divert foundry capacity, (ii) that aggregate TPP of advanced-node ICs exported to China or Macau will not exceed 50% of domestic shipments, (iii) compliance with end-use and end-user prohibitions, and (iv) prior performance review by a qualified independent third-party testing lab headquartered in the United States. The rule is the first material rollback of the October 2022 / October 2023 / December 2024 advanced-computing export-control architecture and operationalises the Trump-administration policy of trading H200-class chip access against Chinese cooperation on critical minerals, fentanyl precursors and Taiwan-strait restraint.

FinCEN issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) under 31 U.S.C. § 5326 requiring banks and money transmitters located in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, Minnesota (i.e., Minneapolis–St. Paul metro) to file reports with FinCEN on transactions of $3,000 or more where the beneficiary is located outside the United States. The order is effective February 12, 2026 through August 10, 2026 and is paired with a parallel Treasury/IRS audit and enforcement push targeting alleged government-benefits fraud (notably the federal child-nutrition program rings under prosecution in Minnesota since 2022). It is the second high-profile FinCEN GTO of the Trump 2.0 administration after the Southwest-border MSB GTO.

The US Department of Commerce issued a countervailing duty (CVD) order on steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from Algeria, effective 6 July 2026, imposing a 72.94% subsidy-offset rate on Tosyali Iron Steel Industry Algeria SPA and, by default, all other Algerian producers — a rate based on facts available with adverse inferences after the Algerian government and/or exporters did not fully cooperate with Commerce's subsidy questionnaires. Because USTR determined Algeria is not a "Subsidies Agreement country," the US ITC was not required to make an injury determination, so the CVD order took effect on Commerce's final subsidy determination alone. This is a separate legal track from the parallel antidumping case on the same product (see responds_to) — the AD investigation used a 127.32% margin, the CVD order uses 72.94%, and both stack as cumulative duties on Algerian rebar. Parallel countervailing-duty investigations on Egypt and Vietnam remained at the preliminary stage as of Commerce's 13 January 2026 determinations, with net subsidy rates set at 29.51% (Egypt) and 1.08% (Vietnam); these are provisional cash-deposit rates pending each country's final CVD determination.

The US Department of Energy announced $2.7 billion in task-order funding over ten years to rebuild domestic uranium enrichment capacity: $900 million each to American Centrifuge Operating and General Matter to develop high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) enrichment capacity, $900 million to Orano Federal Services to expand low-enriched uranium (LEU) enrichment capacity, and $28 million to Global Laser Enrichment for next-generation enrichment technology. DOE frames the awards as reducing US reliance on foreign — chiefly Russian — enriched uranium supply and securing fuel for the country's 94 commercial reactors and future advanced-reactor deployment, with funds distributed under a milestone-based accountability framework.

The US Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that chromium trioxide (chromic acid anhydride, used in chrome plating and surface-finishing) from India and Türkiye is being sold in the United States at less than fair value, following a September 2025 petition by American Chrome & Chemicals. Commerce set a preliminary weighted-average dumping margin and cash-deposit rate of 14.44% for India's Vishnu Chemicals (12.00% cash-deposit rate) and 40.88% for Türkiye's Şişe ve Cam Fabrikaları, triggering suspension of liquidation and cash-deposit collection on covered entries from both countries effective 2026-05-22. The investigation period was July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025; final determinations are scheduled for 2026-08-10 (Türkiye) and 2026-10-07 (India, aligned with the companion countervailing-duty case).

Australia's Treasury applied its annual 1 January indexation to the monetary screening thresholds under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, effective 1 January 2026. Most thresholds move with CPI (the 2026 update reflects roughly a 2.3% rise in the June-quarter CPI), producing country-specific changes where thresholds are set relative to free-trade agreement status or country-specific baselines — Global Trade Alert logged threshold decreases for Chile, New Zealand and the United States and increases for India, Hong Kong and Peru in this cycle. Fixed ($0) national- security, residential-land, media and foreign-government-investor thresholds and the non-indexed agricultural-land thresholds ($15m cumulative general; $50m for Thailand) are unchanged.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection published a final notice in Customs Bulletin and Decisions, Vol. 59, No. 49 (31 December 2025), modifying two New York ruling letters (NY N328585 and NY N326486, both dated 2022) that had classified certain decorative storage baskets ("Basket-MD" and "Basket-3PC" style products) under HTSUS heading 5609 (cotton cordage/twine articles) and 9403.89.6015 (household furniture of other materials), both duty-free. Per Headquarters Ruling Letter H342184, CBP reclassifies the goods to subheading 6307.90.98 ("other made up textile articles"), which carries a 7% general (MFN) duty rate. No comments were received on the September 2025 proposed notice. The change takes effect 60 days after publication, i.e. 1 March 2026, and also revokes/modifies any other unidentified ruling covering the same merchandise.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection published a final notice in Customs Bulletin and Decisions, Vol. 59, No. 49 (31 December 2025), revoking two New York ruling letters (NY N019900, dated 2007, and NY N159975, dated 2011) that had classified certain submersible remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) — used in offshore oil and gas, military, and underwater construction operations — under HTSUS heading 8906.90.0090 ("other vessels"), which is duty-free. Per Headquarters Ruling Letter H272339, CBP determined the ROVs lack the essential characteristics of "vessels" (they do not float, have tether-limited navigability, and are not designed to transport persons or goods) and reclassifies them under subheading 8479.89.95 ("other machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions"), which carries a 2.5% general (MFN) duty rate. No comments were received on the September 2025 proposed notice. The change takes effect 60 days after publication, i.e. 1 March 2026, and also revokes/modifies any other unidentified ruling covering the same merchandise.

FinCEN issued a final rule delaying by two years the effective date of the August 28, 2024 Investment Adviser AML Rule (89 FR 72156) — which would have required SEC-registered investment advisers (RIAs) and Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) to implement AML/CFT programs and file SARs under the Bank Secrecy Act. The compliance deadline moves from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2028. Treasury cited the need for additional time to review and re-tailor the rule to the diverse business models and risk profiles of the investment adviser sector, and to coordinate with related rulemakings. The final rule follows the September 22, 2025 NPRM and the August 5, 2025 exemptive relief order that had already paused enforcement.