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

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).

India's DGFT issued Notification No. 50/2025-26 on 18 December 2025 (Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3(ii)), inserting a new Policy Condition No. 08 under Chapter 29 of ITC (HS) 2022, Schedule-I (Import Policy). Imports of diluted Potassium Clavulanate below a CIF value of USD 77/kg, Potassium Clavulanate (KGA) below USD 180/kg, and specified clavulanic-acid-manufacture intermediates below USD 92/kg are reclassified from "Free" to "Restricted," requiring a DGFT import authorisation before Customs clearance. The measure took immediate effect and runs until 30 November 2026. It is aimed at countering low-priced Chinese potassium-clavulanate exports and protecting Indian bulk-drug fermentation capacity (Aurobindo Pharma and other domestic API makers) amid a global potassium-clavulanate supply glut.

The Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) issued Notification No. 35/2025-Customs (ADD) dated 18 December 2025, imposing a definitive five-year anti-dumping duty on imports of Cold Rolled Non-Oriented Electrical Steel (CRNO) originating in or exported from the People's Republic of China, falling under tariff headings 7210, 7225 and 7226 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act 1975. Duty rates are specific: USD 223.82 per metric tonne for Wuhan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., and USD 414.92 per metric tonne for all other Chinese producers/exporters. The measure implements the DGTR final findings F.No. 06/32/2024-DGTR dated 19 September 2025 (JSW Steel and Tata Steel principal domestic complainants), which found dumping margins and material injury to the Indian domestic industry. Cold-rolled fully hardened silicon electrical steel (CRFH), the upstream feedstock used to produce CRNO, is explicitly excluded from the duty. CRNO is a critical input for electric motors, transformers, generators and EV traction motors — its dumping into India underpinned a complaint from integrated mills (JSW, Tata) competing against Chinese supply at margins below construction-cost-plus-reasonable-profit benchmarks.

India's DGFT issued Notification No. 41/2025-26 on 10 October 2025, inserting a new import policy condition under Chapter 29 of ITC (HS) 2022, Schedule-I (Import Policy) for Sulfadiazine API (ITC-HS codes 29359013 and 29359090). Imports with a declared CIF value below Rs. 1,774 per kilogram are reclassified from "Free" to "Restricted," requiring a DGFT import authorisation before Customs clearance. The measure took immediate effect and runs until 30 September 2026, aimed at curbing low-priced imports — Global Trade Alert records China, France and Israel among the affected exporters — while protecting domestic API manufacturers.

India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) issued final findings on 29 September 2025 (signed 30 September) recommending three-year definitive anti-dumping duties of 0–30% on solar cells and photovoltaic modules originating from China, following a determination that China exported at dumping margins of 105–115% causing material injury to India's domestic solar manufacturing industry. Duty tiers are differentiated by cooperating-producer status: 0% for Jinko Solar and Trina Solar (sampled/full-cooperation), 23% for Aiko Solar and 18 cooperating non-sampled producers, and 30% residual for all other Chinese producers. The CBIC/Ministry of Finance issues the operative Gazette of India Extraordinary notification within ~30–60 days; this action records the DGTR recommendation date as the effective-process anchor.

India's Ministry of Defence signed a contract worth over Rs 62,370 crore (excluding taxes, ~USD 7.5 billion) with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on 25 September 2025 for 97 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A — 68 single-seat fighters and 29 twin-seat trainers — for the Indian Air Force. The acquisition falls under the "Buy (India-IDDM)" (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category of the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 and carries an indigenous-content requirement of over 64%, incorporating 67 additional indigenous items compared with the prior January 2021 LCA Mk1A contract. Deliveries begin 2027-28 and run over six years, supported by a vendor base of roughly 105 Indian component manufacturers.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued Notification No. 31/2025-26 on 23 September 2025, revising Appendix-3 of Schedule-II of the ITC(HS) Export Policy to add a new Category 7 — "Certain Emerging Technologies and related items" — to the SCOMET (Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies) list. Category 7 brings under export-licence control: quantum-computing systems (≥34 qubits with controlled error rates), cryogenic CMOS integrated circuits, advanced lithography tools (≤45 nm minimum resolvable feature), additive-manufacturing equipment under vacuum, and related software/technology. The notification took effect 30 days from issuance, on 23 October 2025, and is the first new SCOMET category created since the list's last major restructure, aligning India's strategic-trade-control regime with parallel US BIS, Wassenaar Arrangement, and EU dual-use list updates.

India's DGFT issued Notification No. 30/2025-26 on 18 September 2025, inserting a new import policy condition under Chapter 29 of ITC (HS) 2022, Schedule-I (Import Policy) for ATS-8 — (4R-Cis)-1,1-Dimethylethyl-6- cyanomethyl-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4-acetate (HS 2932.99), the key synthesis intermediate for Atorvastatin, a National List of Essential Medicines cholesterol-lowering statin API. Imports with a declared CIF value below USD 111/kg are reclassified from "Free" to "Restricted," requiring a DGFT import authorisation before Customs clearance. The measure took immediate effect and runs until 30 September 2026. Global Trade Alert records China, Argentina and Canada among the affected exporters; global merchant-market ATS-8 supply is concentrated among Chinese producers.

India's DGFT issued Notification No. 26/2025-26 on 22 August 2025, amending the import policy condition under Chapter 48 of ITC (HS) 2022, Schedule-I for Virgin Multi-layer Paper Board (VPB, HS codes 48059100, 48059200, 48059300, 48109200 and 48109900). Imports remain "Free" but are now subject to compulsory registration under the Paper Import Monitoring System (PIMS) and a Minimum Import Price (MIP) of INR 67,220 per metric tonne on CIF value; consignments declared below that floor are reclassified as "Restricted" and require a DGFT authorisation before Customs clearance. Global Trade Alert records China, Brazil and Chile among the affected exporters. The measure was originally set to lapse 31 March 2026 but has since been extended twice, most recently to 30 September 2026.

Parliament of India passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2025 (Act No. 28 of 2025) — Lok Sabha on 12 August 2025, Rajya Sabha on 19 August 2025, Presidential assent on 21 August 2025, in force 1 September 2025 — amending the parent MMDR Act, 1957. The Act removes the prior 50% cap on captive-mine production eligible for open sale (allowing captive-block holders unrestricted third-party sale after meeting end-use requirements), widens the National Mineral Exploration Trust into the National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust (NMEDT) with mandate extended to mine development, offshore areas, and overseas acquisition operations, raises the NMEDT royalty contribution from 2% to 3%, waives the auction premium for the 24 critical and strategic minerals listed in Part D of the First Schedule (including lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, REE, PGM, beryllium, and antimony), and establishes a statutory authority to register and regulate Mineral Exchanges as electronic commodity-trading platforms for minerals and metals.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved on 12 August 2025 four new semiconductor manufacturing units under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) Phase 1: SiCSem Private Limited (Silicon Carbide compound-semiconductor fab, Odisha, with UK partner Clas-SiC Wafer Fab Ltd.), 3D Glass Solutions Inc. (advanced glass-substrate packaging, Odisha), Continental Device India Private Limited / CDIL (discrete power-semiconductor expansion, Punjab), and Advanced System in Package Technologies / ASIP (OSAT unit with South Korea's APACT Co. Ltd, Andhra Pradesh). Cumulative investment INR 4,600 crore (~USD 525mn); 2,034 skilled jobs at full ramp. This brought total approved ISM Phase 1 projects to 10 across 6 states, with cumulative committed investment of approximately INR 1.60 lakh crore (~USD 18bn).

The Government of Maharashtra, Transport Department, notified the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy 2025 on 23 May 2025 (Government Resolution No. 202505231834008229) after Cabinet approval on 28 April 2025, with retroactive effect from 1 April 2025 through 31 March 2030. The five-year policy carries an INR 1,993 crore (~USD 235 mn) headline outlay — comprising approximately INR 1,740 crore in purchase incentives, INR 100 crore in charging-infrastructure viability gap funding, and balance allocations for manufacturing incentives, R&D, skilling, and scrappage support — representing a 114% increase over the INR 930 crore outlay of the prior 2021–2025 policy. Targets include ~30% of all new vehicle registrations in Maharashtra to be electric by 2030, a charging station every 25 km on state and national highways, and a 10% base-price subsidy on electric two- and three-wheelers, private and public buses, and passenger vehicles (with an additional 5% top-up for goods-carrying 3W/4W, agricultural tractors, and combine harvesters). The instrument is sectoral and EV-only — distinct from the umbrella Maharashtra Industry, Investment & Services Policy 2025 (filed separately).

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.

The Union Cabinet approved the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) on 28 March 2025, notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) via Gazette Notification CG-DL-E-08042025-262341 on 8 April 2025. The scheme has an original outlay of Rs 22,919 crore (~USD 2.7bn) over six years (FY26-FY31, with an optional one-year gestation period), raised to Rs 40,000 crore in the Union Budget 2026-27. ECMS targets passive components, multi-layer PCBs, lithium-ion battery cells, camera modules, display assembly, electromechanicals, bare-component sub-assemblies and capital equipment for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing -- the ecosystem feeding the existing large-scale-electronics PLI and the India Semiconductor Mission. The scheme targets investment of Rs 59,350 crore, production of Rs 4,56,500 crore and 91,600 direct jobs.

On 1 February 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM) in the Union Budget 2025-26 as a horizontal umbrella framework extending the 2014 "Make in India" architecture across small, medium and large industries. The mission rests on five focal areas: (i) ease and cost of doing business; (ii) a future-ready workforce for in-demand jobs; (iii) a vibrant and dynamic MSME sector; (iv) availability of technology; and (v) quality manufacturing. It will deliver policy support, execution roadmaps, and a governance/monitoring framework binding central ministries with states. NMM specifically commits to building a clean-tech manufacturing ecosystem with explicit coverage of solar PV cells, EV batteries, motors and controllers, electrolysers, wind turbines, very-high-voltage transmission equipment, and grid-scale batteries — i.e., the full hardware stack for India's Panchamrit (500 GW non-fossil by 2030), FAME-III EV ramp, and National Green Hydrogen Mission. NMM is the first horizontal Indian manufacturing-mission instrument in the IPTM register; existing IND entries are sector-specific PLIs (electronics, batteries, steel, semiconductors) and the National Critical Mineral Mission. Operational rollout flows through subsequent Cabinet-level scheme approvals (e.g. Biopharma SHAKTI ₹10,000 cr, Chemical Parks ₹600 cr in BE 2026-27); the mission itself does not carry a single headline outlay because it is the framework rather than an instrument.

On 29 January 2025 the Union Cabinet of India approved the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), a seven-year programme running FY2024-25 through FY2030-31 with a headline financial envelope of ₹34,300 crore (≈USD 4.0 bn). The structure is split: ₹16,300 crore of direct government outlay administered by the Ministry of Mines, plus an expected ₹18,000 crore of investment by central public-sector undertakings (PSUs) and other stakeholders. The mission was first announced by the Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2024-25 (23 July 2024) and the Cabinet approval gave it formal sanction. The NCMM covers the full critical-minerals value chain: domestic exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, recycling from end-of-life products, and acquisition of overseas mineral assets. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is tasked with executing 1,200 exploration projects over the seven-year window (vs. 368 projects over the prior three years), expanded to offshore polymetallic-nodule provinces containing cobalt, REE, nickel and manganese. More than 100 critical-mineral blocks are slated for auction. Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) — the JV of NALCO, HCL and MECL — is the designated vehicle for overseas acquisitions, with active Argentina lithium (CAMYEN SE, 15,703 ha) and Australia lithium/cobalt off-take pipelines. India's official critical-minerals list contains 30 commodities, of which 24 are inscribed in Part D of Schedule I of the MMDR Act 1957 (after the 2023 amendment), reserving central-government auction authority over them. The NCMM sets an explicit recycling target of 15-20% of domestic critical-mineral demand met from secondary sources (e-waste, battery scrap, industrial waste) by 2035. The mission also funds a National Centre of Excellence for Critical Minerals and offers customs-duty waivers on 25 critical minerals (announced in the same FY24-25 budget) to lower import costs while domestic capacity scales. NCMM is India's pull-side complement to the US IRA, EU Critical Raw Materials Act, Canada Critical Minerals Strategy and Australia Critical Minerals Strategy — a coordinated allied response to Chinese dominance over refined cobalt, REE, graphite and gallium/germanium. For India specifically it is framed as the supply-chain underpinning for FAME-III (EV adoption), the Semicon India programme (gallium/germanium/silicon), and the National Solar Mission (silicon, indium, tellurium, gallium for thin-film PV).