Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2678 actions· ✨ 92 recent

Cabinet Order No. 296 of Reiwa 8 (外国為替及び外国貿易法の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係政令の整備等に関する政令), promulgated and in force 2026-09-16, amends the Foreign Exchange Order (外国為替令, Cabinet Order No. 260 of 1980) to implement the 2026 amendment of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. According to the Ministry of Finance, the parent Act makes risk-mitigation measures a notifiable item, brings indirect acquisition of Japanese shares through control of a foreign holding entity into scope, extends pre-notification to investment by non-residents under high-risk control or influence, and strengthens consultation among agencies. The detailed article-level changes to the Order were not read from the amending text (not retrievable via the e-Gov API at filing time).

Japan's Cabinet approved an amendment to the Cabinet Order on Inward Direct Investment under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA) on 1 April 2025; the order was promulgated 4 April 2025 and entered into force 19 May 2025. The amendment introduces two new investor categories — Type-A (investors legally or contractually obligated to share information with foreign governments) and Type-B (investors effectively in a comparable position without formal legal obligation) — and eliminates or narrows exemptions from mandatory prior-notification screening for both categories. The primary driver is concern over minority-stake acquisitions by Chinese investors in Japanese listed companies operating in sensitive sectors including cloud computing, telecommunications infrastructure, semiconductor equipment, and advanced electronics. The reform is structurally distinct from the outbound FEFTA catch-all controls overhaul (2025-10-09) and from the Economic Security Promotion Act (2022-05-18); it is the inbound FDI-screening complement to that framework.

On 5 October 2021, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, jointly with the Ministry of Finance, MEXT and MLIT, published amendments to the Regulatory Notices under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA) adding two new categories to the "Core Business Sectors" subject to mandatory prior-notification FDI screening: metal mining (including mineral exploration vessels and land/underwater survey activity) and manufacturing, repair/maintenance or software for equipment used in metal mining (exploration vessels, marine equipment, excavators, drilling machines). The stated purpose is to secure the stable supply of critical mineral resources including rare earths. The amendment took effect 4 November 2021 after a 30-day transitional period; any inward direct investment of 1% or more in a covered business now requires case-by-case government pre-approval.