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The European Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1373 on June 22, 2026, imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) originating from China, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. The regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 24, 2026. BDO is a chemical intermediate used in engineering plastics (polyurethane, PBT), solvents, and battery electrolyte solvents (gamma-butyrolactone derivative). China is the dominant global BDO producer and the primary source of injurious dumped imports into the EU. The regulation also definitively collects provisional duties previously imposed under Regulation (EU) 2026/270.

On June 17, 2026, at the margins of the G7 Évian summit, Prime Minister Carney and Chancellor Merz issued a bilateral joint statement committing Canada and Germany to a critical-minerals stockpiling partnership with capital investments to be concluded by end-2026. The statement also launches a joint supply chain mapping initiative to identify priority battery-value-chain opportunities, with a specific named project — RCT Solutions (DE) + Sio Silica + Manitoba partners — targeting the extraction and integrated solar manufacturing of 99.9%+ purity silica sand. It builds on the August 2025 CA–DE Declaration of Intent (which established the supply-chain mapping framework and business missions) and extends the relationship into binding capital-deployment commitments.

At the Japan–UK bilateral summit in London on June 14, 2026, Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued the "Japan–UK Leaders' Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation," committing to deepen collaboration on critical minerals supply-chain diversification (mining, refining, processing, recycling, stockpiling), a focused battery-materials and recycling dialogue, and semiconductor technology cooperation through the Japan–UK Frontier Technology Partnership. The two leaders expressed grave concerns over economic coercion and arbitrary export restrictions on critical minerals and other materials that could affect global supply chains. The declaration preceded and informed the G7 Évian critical-minerals alliance announced three days later on June 17, 2026.

On June 8, 2026, the US Department of Defense published its annual update to the Section 1260H Chinese Military Companies (CMIC) list, adding 65 entities (17 new parent companies and 48 subsidiaries), bringing the total to approximately 188–200 designated entities. Major additions span EV and battery manufacturing (BYD, NIO, CATL), consumer internet (Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent), semiconductors (SMIC, YMTC, CXMT), solar (JA Solar, Trina Solar), biotech (BGI Genomics, WuXi AppTec), drones/robotics (DJI, Unitree, RoboSense), and telecoms (TP-Link). Effective June 30, 2026, DoD is prohibited from procuring goods, services, or technology directly from listed entities; effective June 30, 2027, the ban extends to indirect supply-chain procurement through prime contractors and all sub-tiers.

The DRC Council of Ministers, at its 87th extraordinary session on 29 May 2026, adopted decrees expanding the list of strategic mineral substances from 3 (cobalt, germanium, coltan) to 9, adding lithium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, uranium, and rare earth elements. Under the 2018 Mining Code framework, strategic minerals attract a 10% royalty versus the standard 3.5% for base metals, representing a nearly threefold increase in the state's royalty take on the newly classified substances. The measure was presented by Minister of Mines Louis Watum Kabamba and confirmed by RTNC state broadcaster and Bloomberg reporting (31 May 2026). DRC produces an estimated 60–70% of global tantalum supply; the reclassification extends upstream royalty escalation to six additional high-value critical materials — including Manono lithium deposit output, tantalum refinery streams, and any tungsten, niobium, uranium, or REE operations active or under development.

Türkiye's Ministry of Commerce published Tebliğ No. 2026/16 on 24 May 2026 (Resmî Gazete No. 33263), completing a final sunset review (NGGS) of the existing anti-dumping measure on un-backed aluminium foil sheets and strips of thickness ≤0.2 mm (HS 7607.11, 7607.19) originating from China. The review, initiated on a petition from domestic producer Assan Aluminum Industry and Trade Inc., found that removal of the measure would likely result in continuation or recurrence of dumped imports and material injury to Turkish domestic industry. The existing 22% CIF ad-valorem anti-dumping duty — first imposed in 2014 (Tebliğ 2014/25) and previously extended in 2019/34 — is maintained for a further five years from 24 May 2026.

On 23 May 2026 President Javier Milei, Economy Minister Luis Caputo, and Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni announced the "Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones en Nuevas Industrias" (Super RIGI), and on 26 May 2026 submitted the bill (Mensaje 181/2026, expediente 0005-PE-2026) to the Cámara de Diputados — pending Congressional approval as of filing. The regime applies a US$1 billion minimum investment threshold (with ≥20% committed in the first two years), a 15% corporate income tax rate (vs 25% under the base 2024 RIGI), accelerated depreciation of 60%/20%/20% over three years, immediate export-duty exemption (vs year 3 under RIGI), import-tariff exemption, and 30-year regulatory stability across tax, customs, social security, and FX matters. A progressive FX-liberalisation schedule allows 20% / 40% / 100% free disposal of export-generated foreign currency in years 1 / 2 / 3+. Target sectors are industries that "do not currently exist or are in experimental/pilot phase in Argentina," including semiconductors, AI data centres, advanced biotech, 100% electric vehicles, lithium value chain (downstream processing, cathode, battery), green hydrogen, solar panels, wind turbines, onshore LNG, SMR nuclear, aerospace, uranium value chain, potassium and phosphorus fertilisers, and new petrochemicals.

Zimbabwe's Ministry of Mines and Mining Development gazetted a formal Mineral Classification and Declaration on 22 May 2026, signed by Minister Dr Polite Kambamura, classifying 14 minerals as "critical" (nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, REE, chrome, PGMs, manganese, antimony, uranium, ruthenium, tungsten, niobium — plus metallurgical coal as "special critical") and 10 as "strategic" (limestone, potash, phosphorus, iron ore, pyrites, oil, gas, coal, gold, diamonds). The declaration mandates minimum state shareholding through designated Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) in all critical-mineral exploitation operations and prohibits export of listed minerals in raw or unbeneficiated form without a ministerially-approved conditional transitional plan specifying a local beneficiation timeline.

On 13 May 2026, Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC — the DRC state cobalt monopsony), Trafigura Pte Ltd, and EVelution Energy LLC signed a tripartite MOU in Madrid to establish a long-term supply framework for Congolese cobalt hydroxide to the United States. EGC will originate cobalt hydroxide from artisanal and small-scale mining; Trafigura will provide logistics and marketing services; EVelution will process the material into battery-grade cobalt sulfate and alloy-grade cobalt metal at a new first-of-kind commercial-scale refinery in Yuma County, Arizona (construction 2027, target completion 2029). The arrangement is designed to supply approximately 40% of projected US cobalt demand for aerospace, defence, and EV batteries. The MOU operationalises the December 2025 US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement at the commercial supply-chain level, creating a primary DRC→US cobalt flow that bypasses Chinese refiners.

Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) issued Ministerial Decree No. 144.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026, effective 15 April 2026, fundamentally restructuring the Nickel Ore Benchmark Price (Harga Patokan Mineral, HPM) formula that governs the minimum domestic transaction price for ore sales from IUP/IUPK miners to downstream processors. For the first time the HPM uses a multi-element comprehensive pricing formula incorporating by-product credits for cobalt, iron, and chromium alongside nickel content, and raises the Correction Factor (CF) for 1.6%-grade ore from 17% to 30% (a ~76% increase), with an inverse-linear ±1% CF adjustment per ±0.1% grade variance. The reform also shifts HPM measurement from dry-metric-ton (US$/dmt) to wet-metric-ton (US$/wmt) with explicit moisture-content deduction, covers 10 minerals including bauxite, and replaces Kepmen ESDM No. 268.K/2025. The measure redistributes economic rent from the downstream Chinese-backed HPAL/RKEF processing complex toward upstream Indonesian miners, tightening margins across Indonesia's ~50%-of-global-supply nickel-ore industry.

On March 29, 2026, the DRC Conseil des Ministres approved a draft decree modifying and supplementing Decree n°11/28 of June 7, 2021, which establishes the statute of the Centre d'Expertise, d'Evaluation et de Certification (CEEC). The reform formally enshrines CEEC as a "certification authority" recognized in law — a role previously exercised in practice but lacking explicit statutory grounding. CEEC gains explicit authority to determine the physicochemical characteristics of all mineral substances produced on DRC territory, covering the nature, chemical composition, geographic origin, and legal provenance of exports across all strategic minerals including cobalt, copper, coltan, cassiterite, gold, and tantalum.

On 20 March 2026, METI/MOFA (Japan) and the US Departments of State and Energy jointly published the "Japan–United States Critical Minerals Project Cooperation Joint Fact Sheet," identifying five specific upstream critical-mineral projects spanning four continents (Australia, Tanzania, Brazil, UAE, Namibia) to receive structured joint financing through JOGMEC equity and offtake instruments and US DFC/Ex-Im Bank facilities. The document operationalises the October 2025 US-Japan Critical Minerals Framework and the same-day Action Plan, converting policy-framework language into named project commitments covering nickel, lithium, battery-anode graphite, and heavy rare earths. It was released the day following the Takaichi–Trump summit on 19 March 2026 and follows the Critical Minerals Investment Ministerial convened in Tokyo on 14 March 2026.

At the PDAC Convention 2026 in Toronto, Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson announced the Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund (CMSF), a CAD 2 billion vehicle to be operated by Natural Resources Canada that will deploy equity investments, debt, and offtake agreements into Canadian critical-minerals projects and companies. Initial focus covers six of Canada's 34 critical minerals — copper, nickel, lithium, graphite, cobalt, and rare earth elements — with capital expected to begin flowing in spring 2026. The CMSF is part of a broader CAD 3.6 bn PDAC-day announcement package that NRCan estimates will unlock CAD 12.1 bn in mining-project capital across 30+ partnerships, and is structurally modelled on Australia's Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve.

The European Commission approved France's €1.1 billion state aid scheme (SA.120765) under Section 6.1 of the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), authorising a tax credit (Crédit d'Impôt Industrie Verte — C3IV) for strategic investments that add new cleantech manufacturing capacity in solar PV, onshore and offshore wind technologies, heat pumps, and battery technologies. The scheme is available across the whole of France until 31 December 2028 and is the eighth CISAF cleantech-manufacturing- capacity approval, bringing cumulative CISAF cleantech support to over €10 billion. It is the first CISAF approval delivered via a tax-credit instrument, distinct from the grant-based architectures used in the parallel Germany SA.121215, Greece SA.117469, and Luxembourg SA.120921 approvals.

On 22-23 February 2026, President Félix Tshisekedi signed and publicly read on RTNC (state television) a series of presidential ordinances replacing the entire leadership of three strategic state-owned mining companies: Gécamines (copper/cobalt), SAKIMA (Société Aurifère du Kivu et du Maniema — eastern DRC 3T minerals and gold), and SOKIMO (Société Minière de Kilomoto — Kilo-Moto gold sites). New appointees include Baraka Kabemba as DG of Gécamines, Guy Robert Lukama as DG of SAKIMA, and Yannick Nzonde Mulundu as DG of SOKIMO. The sweeping governance reshuffle came approximately two months after the December 4, 2025 DRC-US Strategic Partnership Agreement on Trade and Investment, signalling a strategic repositioning of DRC state mining apparatus toward a US-aligned critical-minerals framework.

Signed on 11 February 2026 at Mining Indaba (Cape Town) in the presence of DRC Minister of Mines Louis Watum Kabamba, the MoU grants Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC — the DRC state cobalt monopsony) mining rights over an ERG Africa-owned exploitation area in Lualaba Province to pilot a structured artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) formalisation model covering organised cooperatives, designated ASM zones, controlled buying points, and compliance with safety and labour standards. EGC provides operational leadership and ERG Africa acts as enabling partner; ARECOMS, SEAMAPE, CEEC, and Gécamines provide regulatory and certification support, with GIZ as technical partner. The MoU is the primary public-private implementation vehicle for the December 2025 artisanal processing suspension (`2025-12-19-drc-artisanal-copper-cobalt-processing-suspension`), establishing the re-entry channel through which ASM cobalt supply re-enters formal supply chains under EGC monopsony control.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a USD 350 million financing package with Gulf Renewable Energy Company Limited (GRE), a subsidiary of Thailand's Gulf Development Public Company Limited (GULF), to fund three renewable-energy projects: two solar-plus-battery energy storage system (BESS) plants totaling 126 MW with 151 MWh of storage, and a 68 MW solar power plant. ADB provided USD 75 million from its own ordinary capital resources and acted as sole mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, mobilizing a further USD 275 million from a DBS Bank B-loan, parallel loans from DEG, Development Finance Institute Canada and Export Finance Australia, and the ADB-administered Leading Asia's Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP 2). The projects are expected to cut an average of 191,550 tons of CO2 emissions annually, supporting Thailand's 2050 net-zero target.

On 5 February 2026, South Africa's state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) made a USD 20 million equity investment in Frontier Rare Earths' local subsidiary to fund a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and corporate development for the Zandkopsdrift rare-earths and battery-grade manganese project in the Northern Cape. The investment was announced jointly with a technology supply and offtake agreement between Frontier and France's Carester SAS. The IDC holds an option to offtake up to 10% of Zandkopsdrift production at prevailing market prices, conditional on further downstream processing occurring in South Africa.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved BRL 280 million (approx. USD 49m) in financing for WEG S.A. to renovate an existing plant and build new capacity for what BNDES describes as Brazil's largest and most modern battery energy-storage-system (BESS) factory, in Itajaí, Santa Catarina. The operation is the first contract under a joint BNDES/Finep public call for strategic-minerals and energy-transition industrial investment ("Mais Inovação"). Announced 4 February 2026; as of the announcement the financing was approved but not yet formally contracted, so this is filed as `stage: proposed` pending contracting.

On 1 February 2026 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled India's Union Budget 2026-27, with Customs Notification No. 02/2026-Customs (dated 1 Feb 2026, effective 2 Feb 2026) implementing the customs-duty package. The notification zero-rates basic customs duty (BCD) on (i) capital goods imported for domestic processing of critical minerals — crushing, beneficiation, refining, chemical-processing, separation/purification, and metallurgical/alloy-making equipment; (ii) capital goods for lithium-ion cell manufacturing for battery energy storage systems (BESS), extending the 2024-25 EV-cell exemption to stationary storage; and (iii) twelve additional critical minerals plus cobalt powder and lithium-ion battery scrap, on top of the 25 critical minerals already exempted in the FY2024-25 budget. In parallel, critical minerals (including monazite / rare-earth concentrate) are migrated from the customs-exemption notification mechanism into the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act at Nil BCD, effective 1 May 2026 — a tariffisation step that locks the rate into primary legislation rather than annually renewable notification. The Budget also commits to dedicated critical-mineral / rare-earth-magnet processing corridors in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Structurally this is the fiscal/tariff layer underneath the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM, Jan 2025) and the National Manufacturing Mission (Feb 2025): NCMM funds capex and overseas asset acquisition (₹34,300 cr), this Budget removes the import-duty drag on the equipment needed to actually run domestic processing lines. It complements the REPM scheme (Nov 2025) for sintered rare-earth magnets and Semicon Mission 2.0 (Feb 2026) on the demand side for refined critical minerals.

NIB, the multilateral development bank owned by the eight Nordic and Baltic member states, signed an 11-year, EUR 21.5 million loan with Solar Park Kvosted ApS, backed by the EU's InvestEU programme, to co-finance a 50 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) addition to the existing 100 MWp Kvosted solar park in Viborg Municipality, Central Jutland. The project is owned by European Energy A/S and converts the site into an integrated hybrid solar-plus-storage asset, one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. NIB's below-market development-bank funding cost functions as a state-adjacent subsidy for Danish renewable-energy infrastructure buildout.

On 28 January 2026 the European Commission's CINEA agency allocated a EUR 62.63 million grant to Slovenské elektrárne a.s. under the 2025 Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Energy call, funding the "works" phase of the "Modernisation of hydro pumped storage of Čierny Váh" Project of Common Interest in Slovakia. The grant covers 34.3% of eligible costs for upgrading two turbogenerator units (TG1, TG2) of Slovakia's largest pumped-storage plant to variable-speed technology and integrating a large-scale battery energy storage system of up to 80 MW / 160 MWh. It is one of 14 cross-border energy infrastructure projects sharing roughly EUR 650 million from the same call round.

On 16 January 2026 the Yunnan Provincial People's Government issued Yunzhengfa [2026] No. 2, a package of 34 policy measures (effective through 2030) to support high-quality development of the Central Yunnan New Area (滇中新区), a national-level new area centred on Kunming. The measures span industrial upgrading, innovation, opening-up and fiscal/land support: transformation of traditional petrochemical and metallurgy industries into "hundred-billion-yuan" clusters, development of semiconductor materials/equipment, new-energy battery materials and non-ferrous/rare-precious-metals manufacturing using Yunnan's mineral and plateau-agriculture resources, and cultivation of low-altitude economy, biomanufacturing and new-materials industries. It also seeks to establish a South/Southeast Asia aircraft-delivery centre and one-stop aviation-maintenance base in the new area.

On 15 January 2026, Canada Growth Fund Inc. (CGF), a CAD 15bn federal Crown investment vehicle, announced it will lead an up to US$85 million structured financing for Mangrove Water Technologies Ltd. (Mangrove Lithium), a British Columbia-based lithium refiner. CGF's own commitment is up to US$65 million, alongside continued participation from existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures and BMW i Ventures; the CGF tranche closed concurrently with a separate CAD 9 million loan from National Bank of Canada backed by the federal Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit. Proceeds commission Mangrove's 1,000-tonne-per-annum Single Stack Plant in Delta, BC and advance development of a planned 20,000-tonne-per-year full-scale plant, with the government citing the deal as reducing reliance on overseas lithium processing and building an onshore mining-to-refining supply chain.

On 9 January 2026, Société Nationale des Mines (SONAMINES SA), Cameroon's state mining company, launched an international call for expressions of interest to pre-select technical and financial partners for the development of the Nkamouna-Lomié cobalt-nickel-manganese project in East Region (Haut-Nyong department), with a submission deadline of 31 March 2026. The tender follows the Presidential Decree of 25 February 2025 withdrawing Mining Permit No. 33 from Geovic Cameroon SA (inactive since 2003) and transferring it to SONAMINES under Loi n°2023/014 portant Code Minier. The deposit holds an estimated 121 million tonnes of mineral resources at average grades of 0.23% Co, 0.65% Ni, and 1.35% Mn — one of the largest undeveloped cobalt-nickel-manganese assets in West/Central Africa — with initial investment estimates of approximately CFA 300 billion (~USD 490 million).

Egypt's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, via GOEIC Export Circular No. 2 of 2026, renewed for a further year (2 January 2026 - 1 January 2027) the restriction limiting exports of lead-acid battery parts and separators (HS 85079010) to companies whose industrial register confirms them as actual producers of lead battery parts, with non-producing exporters and intermediary trading/export offices barred from handling the tariff line. The measure also continues an export duty of EGP 3,000/tonne on the category. It is the latest annual renewal of a policy first introduced as an outright export ban in September 2023 and converted to a fee-plus- producer-only restriction in 2024.

Cumhurbaşkanı Kararı No. 10790 (Resmi Gazete 31 December 2025, issue 33124 3rd reprint), in force 1 January 2026, restructures Türkiye's annual import-tariff architecture across 4,344 product lines from non-EU origins. The decree (i) introduces or expands additional customs duty (Ek Mali Yükümlülük / İlave Gümrük Vergisi) of 5%–48% on non-EU imports of iron and non-alloy steel, copper, aluminium, and base-metal household goods; (ii) introduces forward-looking import-surveillance measures across 172 products under 36 notifications, with reference-price floors that cap effective duty relief on under-valued shipments; (iii) updates duties on 324 Customs Tariff Statistical Positions across 21 chapters (219 HS lines raised by 2.4–15 percentage points; 8 lines under HS 7225/7228/8528/8529 raised by 3–14 points; 2 lines reduced by 6 points); (iv) opens duty-free tariff quotas for 35 industrial-product categories — including 27 battery / lithium-cell HS codes through 1 February 2027, 8m m² of plastic-treated textiles through 31 December 2026, and 40,725 tons of organic chemicals and aluminium sheets (16 February–31 December 2026); and (v) imposes a permit regime (6-month validity) on used and refurbished goods. EU and EU-Customs-Union origins remain exempt under A.TR preferential rules; the structural asymmetry vs non-EU partners is the core mechanism. Stated rationale (Ministry of Trade): support domestic production, prevent unfair competition, increase employment, reduce the current-account deficit.

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published Tebliğ No. 2026/19 ("İthalatta Gözetim Uygulanmasına İlişkin Tebliğ") in the Official Gazette on 31 December 2025 (Sayı 33124, 4th mükerrer), entering into force 30 January 2026 (30 days after publication). It imposes a forward-looking import surveillance regime on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic accumulators under GTİP 8507.60.00.00.22 (4.9V–400V) and 8507.60.00.00.23 (>400V) whenever the declared unit customs value falls below a reference floor of USD 12/kg and USD 15/kg (gross weight) respectively. Below those thresholds, import is only permitted with a surveillance certificate ("gözetim belgesi") issued electronically by the Ministry's Import Directorate General (İthalat Genel Müdürlüğü), which the customs authority requires at declaration registration. Certificates are valid six months.

Council Regulation (EU) 2025/2605, adopted 12 December 2025 and published in the Official Journal on 30 December 2025, replaces the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/2278, the EU's biennial autonomous Common Customs Tariff (CCT) suspension list for products "not produced in the Union in sufficient quantity." The update adds new full and partial duty suspensions (down to 0%) for battery-production chemical inputs — including lithium metal, lithium hydroxide monohydrate and lithium carbonate, several rare-earth and yttrium/scandium compounds, cobalt oxalate, and lithium hexafluorophosphate (electrolyte salt, rated at 2.7% rather than 0%) — with a mandatory review clause for the battery-related lines by 31 December 2026. It also renews review dates for existing suspensions and removes entries no longer judged to be in the Union's economic interest. The regulation entered into force on publication but applies from 1 January 2026.

China's State Council Tariff Commission published its annual "2026 Tariff Adjustment Plan" (税委会公告2025年第11号) on 29 December 2025, effective 1 January 2026. The plan sets provisional import tariff rates below MFN levels on 935 products, while cancelling provisional rates on certain other products (reverting them to standard MFN rates). It adds new national tariff subheadings for intelligent bionic robots, bio-aviation kerosene, forest-grown ginseng, and other items, bringing the total tariff schedule to 8,972 lines. The government frames the provisional-rate cuts — covering key components and advanced materials such as CNC hydraulic air cushions for stamping presses, recycled "black powder" (黑粉) lithium-ion battery feedstock, artificial blood vessels and infectious-disease diagnostic kits — as support for "high-level sci-tech self-reliance" and modernisation of the industrial system. China also continues zero-tariff treatment on 100% of tariff lines for the 43 least-developed countries with diplomatic relations with China, and continues Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement preferential rates for Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The Huadu District Government Office in Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) issued "Measures for Promoting High-Quality Development of New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle Industries" (花府办规〔2025〕11号), effective upon issuance on 31 December 2025 for a two-year term. The package covers R&D-platform grants (up to RMB 100m per enterprise), model-promotion subsidies (up to RMB 50m per model), an L4+ autonomous-vehicle fleet-scale bonus (up to RMB 20m per enterprise), core-component investment rebates (1% of qualifying investment ≥RMB 50m, capped at RMB 300m), battery-production scale bonuses (up to RMB 60m for 5GWh+ output), at least RMB 200m for a "vehicle-road-cloud" integrated pilot zone (200+ autonomous vehicles, ~2,000 OBU retrofits), per-enterprise autonomous-fleet-operation subsidies (up to RMB 200m for qualifying passenger/cargo fleets), preferential industrial-land pricing (minimum 70% of benchmark rate), and facility-cost subsidies (up to RMB 150m/year for 3-5 years). It is a sub-provincial, district-level instrument implementing national NEV industrial-policy and the 2025-2026 Automobile Industry Stabilization and Growth Work Plan at the local level.

On 26 December 2025, Japan's Cabinet approved a FY2025 (Reiwa 7) supplementary budget line -- the "Renewable Energy Expansion: Grid- Connected Storage Battery and Other Power Storage System Introduction Support Project" -- budgeted at JPY 8.0 billion (rising to JPY 61.6 billion including multi-year budgetary commitment authority, kokko-saimu futan koi). Global Trade Alert logs this as one of 23 METI programmes under the FY2026 budget cycle supporting Japan's "green transformation" of the industrial sector, effective with the start of fiscal year 2026 on 1 April 2026. The programme subsidises private- sector installation of grid-connected batteries, batteries co-located with renewable generation, demand-side batteries, and long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems, aiming to secure decarbonised balancing capacity as renewable penetration rises and to build resilience against energy-price volatility. METI's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy opened the call for the executing body (shikko dantai) that will run the subsidy's application, screening and disbursement process on 24 December 2025, with submissions due 22 January 2026.

On 26 December 2025, Japan's Cabinet approved the FY2026 (Reiwa 8) national budget, which the Global Trade Alert database logs as including a "Project to Promote the Strengthening of Autonomous Resource Circulation Systems" financial-grant line administered by METI, effective with the fiscal year on 1 April 2026. The line is the continuation of METI's "Decarbonisation Growth-Type Economic Structure Transition Promotion Subsidy (Autonomous Resource Circulation System Strengthening Promotion Project)" (脱炭素成長型経済 構造移行推進対策費補助金（自律型資源循環システム強靱化促進事業）), which funds private-sector investment in recycled-material manufacturing and recovery equipment for rare metals/rare earths, automotive and small-electronics lithium-ion batteries, plastics, and textiles. Japanese budget-press reporting puts the FY2026 allocation at JPY 7.3 billion (73億円), up from JPY 3.0 billion (30億円) in FY2025 -- roughly a 2.4x year-on-year increase. METI opened the call for the executing body (執行団体) on 18 February 2026, with the General Incorporated Association for Low-Carbon Investment Promotion (GIO) again acting as the designated administrator, as it did for the FY2025 round.

Brazil's Gecex/Camex approved Resolução Gecex Nº 842 on 23 December 2025 (published in the Diário Oficial da União 24 December 2025, in force 1 January 2026), amending the "Lista de Autopeças Não Produzidas" (Non-Produced Auto Parts List) created by Resolução Gecex Nº 284/2021. The list lets vehicle assemblers import parts with no domestic production source at a reduced ~2% duty instead of Brazil's standard automotive-parts tariff. Resolution 842 removes five tariff ex-numbers (engine components and electrical connectors, NCM 8409.99.99, 8511.40.00, 8536.50.90, 8536.90.40) — reverting those lines to the standard duty on the premise that domestic supply now exists — while adding 38 new ex-numbers: 17 for hybrid/electric-vehicle components (high-voltage NMC/LFP lithium-ion battery packs, oil coolers and collectors, brake and transmission parts for PHEV/HEV applications) and 21 for mining/heavy-equipment parts, both new categories carrying a sunset to 31 December 2027.

The European Investment Bank signed the first EUR 231 million tranche (EUR 16m + EUR 50m + EUR 165m) of a EUR 271 million green loan to Italy's Sunprime Holdings Srl on 22 December 2025, under the EIB-approved "Project Sophocles" solar-and-battery programme (project reference 20250247, approved 27 August 2025). The financing backs a EUR 487 million multi-year investment programme deploying roughly 280 MWp of small-scale solar PV across multiple Italian sites plus 80 MW and 270 MW of four-hour battery energy storage. A further EUR 40 million tranche signed in February 2026, and the programme was subsequently expanded to a EUR 507 million EIB/Natixis CIB co-financing package announced in March 2026. Global Trade Alert logs the December tranche as a "red" state-loan intervention on grounds that below-market EIB financing is a trade- and competition-distorting subsidy to a domestic renewable-energy developer.

Arrêté ministériel n° 00964/CAB.MIN/MINES/01/2025, signed 19 December 2025 by DRC Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba, suspends with immediate effect all activities of entities (notably comptoirs d'achat / buying counters, treatment units and similar structures) involved in the purchase, processing, transformation and commercialisation of copper and cobalt minerals sourced from artisanal exploitation across the country. Industrial, legally established mining operators are excluded. The order requires affected entities to submit compliance documentation within ten days, establishes an ad hoc commission to verify administrative, legal, technical and traceability conformity (15-day review window), and obliges operators to demonstrate the lawful origin of their supplies in line with OECD due-diligence guidance. Framed as a "conservatory" measure to restore order in the cupro-cobaltifère value chain and curb illicit exports.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 146 million (USD 171 million) loan with Kronospan, a leading European producer of wood-based panels, on 19 December 2025. The financing backs deployment of rooftop and ground-mounted solar photovoltaic installations, battery energy storage, and electric-vehicle infrastructure across Kronospan's manufacturing sites in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, aimed at cutting emissions and boosting energy independence. Global Trade Alert logs the loan as a "red" state-loan intervention on grounds that below-market EIB financing to a named commercial manufacturer is a trade- and competition-distorting subsidy.

On 19 December 2025 Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) announced EUR 170 million in direct federal grants to seven transformation projects in former coal regions under the STARK programme (Stärkung der Transformationsdynamik und Aufbruch in den Revieren und an den Kohlekraftwerksstandorten), targeting an expected EUR 600 million in total triggered investment and roughly 600 direct jobs plus up to 3,000 indirect supply-chain jobs. The largest disclosed awards anchor the domestic battery-materials value chain: EUR 63.4 million to Aachen startup Cylib for Europe's first industrial-scale LFP battery-recycling line at Chempark Dormagen (60,000 t/year capacity), EUR 36 million to AMG-Lithium GmbH for a battery-grade lithium-salt production expansion (~20,000 t/year) at Chemiepark Bitterfeld-Wolfen, and EUR 46.1 million to Altech Batteries GmbH for a sodium-based (CERENERGY) stationary storage factory at the Lusatian industrial park Schwarze Pumpe. A fourth confirmed recipient, ORE Energy, received EUR 16.2 million for an iron-air storage project ("IronAir4Ruhr") in Gelsenkirchen; the remaining three of the seven funded projects are not yet individually named in public BMWE materials.

The European Commission approved a €4.1 billion Hungarian state aid scheme (SA.120705) under Section 6.1 of the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), authorising grants and tax advantages for strategic investments that add cleantech-manufacturing capacity across Hungary through 31 December 2030. Eligible activities cover net-zero technologies listed in Annex II of the CISAF — batteries, solar PV, wind turbines, electrolysers, heat pumps, and CCUS equipment — plus their main specific components and the production or recovery of related critical raw materials. The scheme is open to companies across the whole territory of Hungary and is the CISAF-era successor to Hungary's EUR 2.36 billion TCTF net-zero scheme (approved 2023-08-30, aid deadline 31 December 2025), which channelled the bulk of Chinese and Korean battery/EV-supply-chain FDI into the Debrecen–Szeged–Göd–Nyíregyháza industrial cluster.

On 16 December 2025 the European Commission adopted the Communication on a Battery Booster Strategy (later published in the Official Journal as C/2026/682), part of the EU Automotive Package presented alongside the CO2 emission-standards review, the Automotive Omnibus simplification, and the Corporate Vehicle Decarbonisation initiative. The Battery Booster envelopes EUR 1.8bn of EU-budget support for the European battery value chain: EUR 1.5bn from the Innovation Fund as interest-free loans for European battery cell producers ramping to giga-scale output (delivered through a dedicated Battery Booster Facility, with the implementing Commission Decision in stakeholder consultation through 15 March 2026), plus EUR 300m for critical raw materials projects in Europe. The strategy is the first standalone EU industrial-finance instrument targeted exclusively at battery cell manufacturing, and is paired with RESourceEU (3 Dec 2025) and the Industrial Accelerator Act proposal (4 Mar 2026) to stitch together upstream CRM, midstream cell production and downstream automotive demand.

On 15 December 2025 Rosatom's fuel division (via subsidiary Renera, under managing company TVEL) put Russia's first full-cycle lithium-ion battery "gigafactory" into pilot-industrial operation in the Neman district of Kaliningrad Oblast. Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Mikhail Ivanov disclosed that the project was financed through a comprehensive state-support package: a RUB 5 billion preferential loan from the federal Industry Development Fund (FRP) under its "Avtokomponenty" (auto-components) programme, plus RUB 5 billion in direct subsidies from the Kaliningrad Oblast government, alongside a special investment contract (SPIC) for the project. The facility has a design capacity of 4 GWh/year — enough to supply battery packs for roughly 50,000 electric vehicles — and is described by officials as a step toward Russian "technological sovereignty" in energy-storage manufacturing following the exit of Western and Asian battery suppliers since 2022.

The Government of Ontario launched the Critical Minerals Processing Fund (CMPF), a CAD 500 million (~USD 364 million) provincial financial-support program to accelerate processing and refining capacity for critical minerals mined in the province, administered through Invest Ontario. The fund targets nickel, graphite, copper, cobalt and lithium, with a geographic emphasis on the Ring of Fire region northeast of Thunder Bay, and is intended to keep Ontario-mined minerals processed domestically rather than exported raw. It complements a separate CAD 3.1 billion package of loans, guarantees, grants and scholarships supporting Indigenous participation in the province's critical-minerals supply chain, and was first flagged in Ontario's 2025 Budget.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded a AUD 18.07 million grant to energy retailer Flow Power under the "Driving the Nation Program" to build the "Flow Power Highway" — a minimum 10-site, up to 84-charger ultrafast battery-electric-vehicle (BEV) charging network across Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, delivering 29.4 MW of total charging capacity. The AUD 18.07 million grant leverages a AUD 70.23 million total project value, with Flow Power partnering UK charge-point operator GRIDSERVE (via its GIGATONS venture) for hardware, software and analytics. Announced 10 December 2025 alongside two smaller ARENA EV-infrastructure grants (Essential Energy AUD 2.3m for regional NSW chargers; UTS/RACE for 2030 CRC AUD 1.09m for a national vehicle-grid-integration network).

Morocco's Loi de Finances n° 50-25 for fiscal year 2026, promulgated by Dahir n° 1-25-67 of 10 December 2025 and published in Bulletin Officiel n° 7465 bis of 16 December 2025, sets the FY2026 customs-tariff schedule (continuing the EU Common External Tariff alignment process at 2.5%/17.5%/40% tiers with sector-specific input reductions), amends the fiscal regimes for Zones d'Accélération Industrielle and Casablanca Finance City, and delivers the 2026 tranche of the multi-year IS (corporate-tax) rate-convergence schedule under Framework Law n° 69-19. The law also extends green-investment fiscal accelerators aligned with the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the EU-Morocco Strategic Partnership on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains, and contains phosphate-sector fiscal provisions affecting OCP Group's DAP/MAP/TSP export treatment. Entry into force: 1 January 2026.

Innovate UK (part of UKRI) opened the Growth Catalyst - Investor Partnerships Round 2 competition on 10 December 2025, allocating a minimum of £100 million in grant funding to UK-registered SMEs at seed-to-Series-A stage. Grants (60-70% of project costs for feasibility and industrial-research projects; 35-45% for experimental development) must be matched by private investment from an Innovate UK-approved investor partner, ranging from an equal match to double the grant amount depending on project category. Applicants must align with one of the priority sectors named in the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy ("Invest 2035"): advanced manufacturing, clean energy, digital and technologies, defence, creative industries, life sciences, or the Battery Innovation Programme. The competition closes 3 February 2026.

Australia's government-owned Clean Energy Finance Corporation announced on 9 December 2025 an AUD 70 million (approx. USD 46 million) financing package with Volvo Financial Services and Volvo Group Australia to accelerate electrification of Australia's trucking fleet. The package funds an interest-rate discount of up to 0.5 percentage points for eligible customers leasing medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric trucks (HD BEVs) and installing EV charging infrastructure, plus a residual-value support mechanism to reduce operating-lease costs and protect future HD BEV resale values. Volvo Group Australia has committed to manufacture electric trucks at its Wacol, Queensland facility (in production since 1972, 80,000+ trucks built) from 2026. Global Trade Alert separately logs the transaction as a "red"-flagged local-value-added and lending-support intervention (state act 95651).