Loading…
Loading…
Structured register of government actions in the geoeconomic space — export controls, tariffs, sanctions, FDI screening, subsidies, industrial-policy laws — cross-referenced into the country, minerals, and ETF surface. Charter: docs/IPTM_CHARTER.md.
Severity 1-5 is the qualitative impact rating (1=minor, 5=structural). The bilateral-trade-grounded quant scorer is the next IPTM milestone. RBI (Register Breadth Index) is a complementary structural-breadth indicator from scripts/py/iptm/breadth.py; divergence between RBI and severity is itself informative (high-sev / low-RBI = strategic chokepoint; low-sev / high-RBI = broad but shallow). Every action has at least one primary source URL. Verify-or-don't-file. See also themes, timeline, graph, sankey, map, country exposure, sector exposure, material exposure (+ graph), weekly briefs, portfolio scan, escalation monitor, trans-shipment hubs. Internal triage tools (RSS-poller candidate feed, source-feed health) live under /admin/candidates + /admin/sources. Subscribe via Atom feed (accepts ?country=CN, ?material=lithium, ?issuer=BIS, ?type=export_control, ?etf=SOXX, ?company=NVDA, ?minSeverity=4, ?year=2026, ?q=…) or pull /api/iptm/actions.
In General Notice 4162 of 2026 (Government Gazette No. 55437, 22 September 2026) the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa announced the conclusion of its sunset review of the anti-dumping duties on ropes and cables of a diameter exceeding 32 mm (steel wire ropes) originating in or imported from Germany and the United Kingdom. The Commission made a final determination that expiry of the duties would likely lead to continuation of dumping and recurrence of material injury, and decided to recommend to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition that the current duties be maintained (Report No. 786).
On 18 September 2026 the European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2133, imposing a provisional safeguard measure on imports of certain grain-oriented flat-rolled products of silicon-electrical steel (GOES) and steel laminations and cores (SLCs) — CN codes 7225 11 00, 7226 11 00 and 8504 90 13 — following a global safeguard investigation opened 27 March 2026. GOES is the core input for power-transformer and grid-equipment cores; the Commission's own figures show China supplied 53% of 2025 EU imports, Japan 20%, Türkiye 13% and Korea/UAE a combined 4%. Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Kenya and Ukraine are excluded from the provisional measure. The regulation does not disclose the tariff-rate-quota volume or out-of-quota duty rate in the published notice; the Commission press page frames the measure as "tariff-rate quotas coupled with price thresholds."
The US Department of Commerce issued a preliminary affirmative determination (case A-570-228) that tin mill products from China are being sold in the US at less than fair value, finding a China-wide dumping margin of 136.52% based on adverse facts available (no Chinese producer/exporter responded to the investigation), adjusted to a 130.17% cash deposit rate after offsetting the parallel countervailing-duty determination. Commerce also made a preliminary affirmative finding of critical circumstances, extending provisional measures and cash-deposit collection retroactively. The investigation was petitioned by United States Steel Corporation and the United Steelworkers union; final determinations are scheduled for around 1 December 2026.
The US Department of Commerce issued a preliminary affirmative countervailing duty determination (case C-570-229) finding that producers/exporters of tin mill products from China received countervailable subsidies at a rate of 66.61% ad valorem, applied both to the individually-examined respondents (Shougang Holding Trade (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.) and to the all-others rate, based on facts available with adverse inferences after non-cooperation. Commerce also made a preliminary affirmative finding of critical circumstances, and directed CBP to suspend liquidation and collect cash deposits on entries from the date of publication. The final CVD determination is aligned to issue alongside the companion antidumping determination, currently scheduled no later than 2026-11-30.
The UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a Trade Remedies Authority recommendation (Trade Remedies Notice 2026/26, published 10 September 2026) to extend, unchanged, the anti-dumping duty on wire rod originating in China for a further five years, through 28 January 2031. The measure follows an expiry review (application received October 2025, review initiated January 2026, Statement of Essential Facts published 16 June 2026) that found dumping would be likely to recur and would injure UK industry if the duty lapsed. Rates are unchanged: 7.9% for the Valin Group (TAP code A930) and 24.0% for all other Chinese exporters (TAP code A999).
On 9 September 2026 President Trump signed five proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 responding to Canada's 8 September 2026 retaliatory tariffs on roughly $20bn of US exports (steel, dairy, agricultural equipment). The proclamations impose outright import bans on certain Canadian alcoholic-beverage and dairy products that had been subject to the 50% Section 338 duties imposed 22 August 2026 (following Canada's continued discrimination against US alcohol and dairy commerce), and separately exclude certain Canadian motor-vehicle-sector products from importation for the same reason. The proclamations also modify the product scope of the July 20, 2026 Section 338 tariff actions, removing items such as rock salt and cement and adding others, including all-terrain vehicles and additional dairy products. The import bans take effect 29 September 2026; the product-list modifications take effect 15 September 2026. The duties/bans apply regardless of USMCA origin and stack on top of Section 232 tariffs.
Commerce initiated periodic administrative reviews of antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders with July anniversary dates, following timely requests under 19 CFR 351.213(b). Among the named respondents are JFE Steel Corporation and Nippon Steel Corporation (Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Japan, A-588-873), POSCO and Hyundai Steel Company (Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from South Korea, A-580-878/C-580-879), China Steel Corporation (Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from Taiwan, A-583-856), Interpipe entities (Oil Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine, A-823-815), and Goodluck India Limited and Tube Investments of India Ltd. (Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing from India, A-533-873). The notice also covers unrelated AD/CVD orders on goods including pasta, mattresses, citric acid, paper shopping bags, tires and PET film from other countries. Review periods are predominantly 1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026; Commerce intends to issue final results no later than 31 July 2027. This is a review of existing orders, not a new duty — current cash-deposit rates continue unchanged pending the review's outcome.
On 1 September 2026 the European Commission published a notice of initiation of a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures in force since 2022 on imports of silicon metal originating in China, following a request lodged 8 July 2026 by Euroalliages on behalf of the Union silicon industry. Euroalliages argues that Chinese production overcapacity has grown "massive" and export prices have fallen further since the original investigation, such that the current duties no longer offset the dumping margin. The review investigation period runs from July 2025 to June 2026; the existing duties remain in force and uncollected/undetermined pending the outcome.
Canada's Department of Finance published an updated list of over 700 US-origin products subject to counter-tariffs effective 2026-09-08, covering CA$27.6 billion of US imports across steel, aluminium, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp/paper and electronics. Rates (15%, 25% or 50% depending on product) are matched dollar-for-dollar to the corresponding US Section 338/232 tariffs on the same goods, explicitly countering the United States' 22 August 2026 decision to impose a 50% tariff on CA$27.6 billion of Canadian goods. Steel and aluminium flat-rolled products carry the top 50% counter-rate.
Japan's Ministry of Finance, acting on a provisional affirmative determination from the Customs Tariff Council following a METI/MOF joint dumping investigation opened in August 2025, imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty on hot-dip galvanized steel strips and sheets originating in South Korea and China (Hong Kong and Macau excluded). The measure took effect August 8, 2026 under Cabinet Order No. 254 of 2026, and runs through December 7, 2026 pending a final determination. The product is used in guard rails, building/housing materials, fencing, and appliance parts such as refrigerators.
Japan's Ministry of Finance and METI imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty of 3.6% to 42.1% (varying by exporter) on nickel-added cold-rolled stainless steel coil, sheet and strip (alloy steel with >=10.5% chromium and >0.6% nickel by weight) originating in or exported from China and Taiwan. The Cabinet Order was made public 8 July 2026 and the provisional duty applies 9 July 2026 to 8 November 2026, pending the investigation MOF/METI opened 22 July 2025.
Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) opened a formal antidumping investigation via Circular nº 51 (3 July 2026, published Diário Oficial da União 6 July 2026) into imports of welded circular-section carbon-steel pipes for fluid conduction (outer diameter 14"-48", NCM 7305.11/12/19/31/39 and 7306.19/30) from China, following a petition by Confab Industrial S.A. (a Tenaris subsidiary). The dumping-evidence period runs July 2024-June 2025 and the injury-analysis period July 2020-June 2025. DECOM explicitly finds that market-economy conditions do not prevail in China's producing segment, citing state-owned-enterprise dominance, five-year plans and "China's decisive contribution to global steel overcapacity." No preliminary dumping margin is disclosed at this initiation stage.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated an anti-dumping investigation on 25 June 2026 into imports of Hot Rolled Flat Products of Alloy or Non-Alloy Steel (width ≤ 2,100 mm, thickness ≤ 25 mm; not clad, plated or coated; stainless steel excluded; HS 7208, 7211, 7225, 7226) originating in or exported from China PR, Japan and Russia, following a petition by domestic producers JSW Steel, JSW Vijayanagar Metallics and Jindal Steel Odisha. DGTR's prima-facie assessment found export prices significantly below normal value, with dumping margins above the de-minimis threshold for all three origins. The period of investigation (POI) is January–December 2025; interested parties have 30 days to register and submit questionnaire responses.
Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission issued Anti-Dumping Notice No. 2026/083 (Case 688) on 23 June 2026, making a Preliminary Affirmative Determination (PAD) under s.269TD of the Customs Act 1901 covering certain flat rolled steel products from China and Korea. Alongside a much larger provisional anti-dumping duty, the Commissioner found sufficient grounds for a provisional countervailing (anti-subsidy) duty on Chinese-origin goods, with interim security rates of 3.2% (Baoshan Iron & Steel) to 4.5% (all other/uncooperative exporters), effective on imports entered for home consumption on or after 24 June 2026. The investigation was initiated on 24 October 2025 following an application by BlueScope Steel Limited.
India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated anti-dumping investigation No. 6/17/2026-DGTR (SETU Case ID: AD/OI/016/2026) on 22 June 2026 into imports of Cold Rolled Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (CRGO) and Amorphous Metal (AM) originating in or exported from China PR, Japan, Korea RP, and Russia, on application by JSW JFE Electrical Steel Nashik Pvt Ltd (a JV between JSW Steel and Japan's JFE Steel Corporation). The period of investigation (POI) covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026; the injury analysis period spans 2022-23 through the POI. CRGO is the magnetic-core input for every power and distribution transformer, and amorphous metal is the next-generation low-loss core alternative; together they constitute grid-critical capital-equipment feedstock for India's electricity-system expansion, making this probe analytically distinct from — and more strategically sensitive than — the CRNO definitive-duty case (Notification 35/2025-Customs (ADD)).
South Africa's International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC), acting on an application from Hall Longmore (the majority SACU producer of the product), issued a preliminary determination of dumping and recommended that SARS impose a provisional anti-dumping duty of 28.86% on large-diameter (external diameter >406.4mm) welded circular steel tubes and pipes of iron or steel (HS 7305.19, excluding longitudinally submerged arc-welded and longitudinally welded pipes) originating in or imported from Mozambique. SARS gave effect to the duty via Government Gazette 54854, Notice R.7606 (19 June 2026), amending Part 1 of Schedule No. 2 to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964, effective for six months up to and including 18 December 2026 while ITAC's investigation continues (ITAC Report No. 779).
Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published Communiqué No. 2026/17 in Resmî Gazete No. 33282 on 16 June 2026, imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of cold-rolled flat steel (excluding non-annealed), galvanized flat steel, and pre-painted flat steel originating in the People's Republic of China and South Korea, covering products under GTIP codes 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225, and 7226. The investigation — initiated under Communiqué No. 2024/41 of 25 December 2024 — found that dumped imports from both countries were causing material injury to domestic producers. Duty rates for Chinese exporters range from 22.37% (Angang Steel) to 32.40% (all-others CIF); South Korean rates range from 10.48% (POSCO) to 27.00% (all-others). The measure runs for five years from the date of publication, under Law No. 3577 on Prevention of Unfair Competition in Imports.
On 4 June 2026 USTR published a formal Notice of Determination in the Federal Register (doc 2026-11158, docket USTR-2025-0043) concluding that Brazil's acts, policies, and practices in six areas — digital trade and electronic payment services, unfair preferential tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, IP protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation — are unreasonable and burden US commerce. Simultaneously, USTR proposed a 25% ad valorem tariff on all Brazilian-origin goods, subject to ~1,600 HTS subheading exclusions including approximately 430 civil-aircraft lines. A public hearing is scheduled for 6 July 2026 and USTR faces a statutory deadline of 15 July 2026 to finalise any responsive action; the tariff has not yet taken effect.
South Africa's Cabinet approved the Industrial Development Strategy 2026 (IDS 2026) at its regular meeting of 3 June 2026 (following a Special Cabinet meeting on 13 May 2026). DTIC published the strategy document on 8 June 2026. IDS 2026 is South Africa's first Industrial Development Strategy to formally integrate critical mineral supply-chain security into the national industrial policy framework. Key provisions: (1) PERMIT-TO-PROCESSING LINKAGE — mining permit allocations in new blocks are conditioned on binding domestic processing commitments for priority commodities; (2) PRIORITY BENEFICIATION SECTORS — chrome, platinum-group metals (PGMs), cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements designated as mandatory value-addition targets; (3) INDUSTRIAL SECURITY CLASSIFICATION — strategic mineral sectors listed alongside steel, automotive, and aerospace as active industrial-policy industries where government takes a direct coordination role; (4) CROSS-DEPARTMENT COORDINATION — DTIC coordinates with DMPR on permit conditions, embedding beneficiation mandates into the licensing regime. The IDS 2026 is the operative implementation instrument for the permit-conditioned beneficiation mandate signalled in the May 2025 Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy; the two documents are functionally complementary but legally distinct — the strategy sets direction, IDS sets implementation obligations.
President Trump signed Proclamation 11032 on June 1, 2026 (effective June 8, 2026), making further adjustments to Section 232 tariff regimes for aluminum, steel, and copper. The proclamation expands temporary 15% reduced ad valorem rates to cover agricultural equipment and certain residential HVAC systems previously subject to the 25% derivative tariff, and creates a new Annex I-C establishing temporary S232 rates for mobile industrial equipment and machinery through December 31, 2027. It also designates aluminum lithographic plates and steel racks as new derivative products subject to S232 duties as an anti-circumvention measure. All temporary modifications revert to Proclamation 11021 rates after December 31, 2027.
Indonesia's Komite Anti Dumping Indonesia (KADI) issued an affirmative preliminary dumping-and-injury determination against hot-rolled coil (HRC, uncoated/unplated, width ≥600mm, HS 7208 subheadings) originating from Wuhan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd (WISCO) of the People's Republic of China. The resulting provisional anti-dumping duty (Bea Masuk Antidumping Sementara / BMADS) of 17.50% ad valorem was imposed via Peraturan Menteri Keuangan (PMK) No. 32 Tahun 2026, effective 27 May 2026 through 22 November 2026. Under Indonesia's PP No. 34/2011 statutory framework, KADI must complete its investigation within 12 months; a definitive duty, revision, or termination will follow.
On 20 May 2026, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on two Commission regulations implementing the tariff elements of the EU-US Joint Statement of 21 August 2025. The main regulation (COM(2025)0471) eliminates remaining EU customs duties on US industrial goods and grants preferential market access for US seafood and non-sensitive agricultural products. The second regulation (COM(2025)0472) extends the suspension of EU duties on US lobster imports (including processed lobster) retroactively from 1 August 2025. Both regulations sunset on 31 December 2029 and include a Commission safeguard mechanism to suspend concessions if the US fails to meet its Joint Statement commitments.
Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) published a definitive countervailing (anti-subsidy) duty of 4.5% on imports of steel corner/finishing beading and angles from China, effective 8 May 2026, under Case 677. The investigation was initiated 30 May 2025 following an application from domestic manufacturer Rondo Building Services Pty Ltd, covering metallic-coated corner beading and angles up to 0.49mm base metal thickness under HS codes 7216.61.00, 7216.69.00, 7216.91.00, 7216.99.00 and 7308.90.00. A companion definitive anti-dumping duty of 27.8% on the same product from non-cooperative Chinese exporters was imposed under the same case.
Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber Executive Committee (GECEX/CAMEX) published Resolução nº 892 on 7 May 2026 (DOU 8 May 2026), modifying the definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of metallic magnesium in crude forms (magnésio metálico em formas brutas, NCM 8104.11.00 and 8104.19.00) originating in China — originally imposed by Resolução GECEX nº 253 of 24 September 2021. The modification converts the duty collection mechanism to a specific tariff fixed in US dollars per kilogram (alíquota específica fixada em dólares estadunidenses por quilograma), based on Parecer SEI nº 258/2026/MDIC, and was deliberated at GECEX's 236th Ordinary Meeting on 30 April 2026. China accounts for approximately 85% of global primary magnesium production; magnesium is designated a critical material under both CRMA Annex I and the USGS Critical Minerals List, serving as an essential input to aluminium alloys for automotive and aerospace lightweighting and to steel desulphurisation. This resolution is a NEW action on the IPTM register — the original 2021 AD measure (GECEX nº 253) was not previously filed — capturing the current in-force duty alteration as the operative instrument.
USTR formally initiated the second statutorily mandated four-year review of its Section 301 investigation into China's acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation (Federal Register 2026-08806, published May 6, 2026). The review covers tariff actions imposed on approximately $300 billion of Chinese goods across Lists 1–4B (25% on most lists; 7.5% on List 4A) and will determine whether those actions should be continued, modified, or terminated. Interested parties may file continuation requests in two 60-day windows: May 7–July 5, 2026 (for the July 6, 2018 action) and June 24– August 22, 2026 (for the August 23, 2018 action). DISTINCT from the March 2026 Section 301 excess-capacity investigations (which target 16 economies on overcapacity sectors) and from the June 2026 Section 301 forced-labor enforcement action (60 economies); this review is China-specific, IP/TT-focused, and mandated by the original Biden-era statutory clock under Section 304(c) of the Trade Act of 1974.
Colombia's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT) imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of annealed wire (alambre recocido) and galvanized wire (alambre galvanizado) originating in the People's Republic of China via Resolución No. 214 de 2026, published in the Diario Oficial. The measures apply as an ad valorem surcharge on the FOB value declared to DIAN and are valid for four months while the Subdirección de Prácticas Comerciales continues its investigation toward a definitive determination or archival. The investigation was initiated under Resolución No. 097 of 6 February 2026 and found significant dumping margins: annealed wire at USD 617.03/t FOB vs. a normal value of USD 796.51/t; galvanized wire at USD 674.67/t FOB vs. a reference value of USD 1,336.63/t (Italy benchmark).
Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) issued Circular nº 33 on 29 April 2026, confirming a preliminary affirmative determination of dumping and material injury to the Brazilian domestic industry in imports of hot-rolled stainless steel flat products (thickness 2–50.8 mm, coils and sheets, NCM 7219 and 7220 headings) from China, India and Indonesia. Preliminary dumping margins are 50.1% (China), 25.3% (Indonesia) and 17.9% (India). Despite the affirmative finding, DECOM exercised discretion not to impose provisional anti-dumping duties at this stage, citing case complexity, the three-origin scope and the volume of submitted information; the final determination is scheduled for 25 November 2026.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) issued final findings dated 28 April 2026 in the anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of Low Ash Metallurgical Coke (ash content ≤ 18%, HS 27040010, 27040020, 27040030, 27040090) originating in or exported from Australia, China PR, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia, recommending a downward revision of the provisional anti-dumping duties previously imposed by Notification No. 41/2025-Customs (ADD) of 31 December 2025. The final findings are recommendatory; a definitive implementing customs notification from CBIC is expected before the provisional measures expire around June 2026. Significant reductions in duty rates are recommended for Indonesian and Japanese origin imports; the investigation covers six coke-exporting countries competing with domestic producers led by Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL, Jindal Steel (JSPL) and AMNS India.
Presidential decree signed by President Claudia Sheinbaum and published in the evening edition of the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 23 April 2026, in force 24 April 2026. The decree amends the Tariff of the Ley de los Impuestos Generales de Importación y de Exportación (LIGIE/TIGIE) and the Decreto que establece diversos Programas de Promoción Sectorial (PROSEC), imposing MFN import duties at 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 30% or 35% ad valorem on 185 tariff fractions covering chemical products, cosmetics, paper and cardboard, textiles, steel, graphic arts, aluminum manufactures, auto parts, electrical material, bicycles, musical instruments, furniture, wind turbines, and trailers. Goods originating in countries with which Mexico has a free-trade agreement remain eligible for preferential treatment, so practical incidence falls on China and other non-FTA suppliers (Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Taiwan, UAE, South Africa). Paired PROSEC modifications add tariff fractions to Article 5 sections I, II.b and XIX (electrical, electronic, automotive and auto-parts industries) at exempt (EX) rates.
On 21 April 2026, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal issued a final injury finding in Inquiry NQ-2025-005, determining that the dumping of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) originating in or exported from Mexico, the Philippines, Türkiye, and South Korea has caused material injury to the domestic Canadian steel industry. Anti- dumping duties are payable on imports released by CBSA on or after 21 April 2026 and remain in effect for five years. The US investigation was terminated separately.
On 16 April 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC), the trade-remedy authority operating under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), issued a preliminary affirmative determination in its anti-dumping investigation of Chinese-origin zinc and zinc-alloy coated cold-rolled steel products (thickness <4.75mm; HS 7210/7212 and certain 7225/7226 codes), and recommended provisional anti-dumping duties of 22.34% (Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union), 26.28% (Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel), 33.67% (Winstone Development Ltd), and 25.75% (other Chinese suppliers). The duties remain in force pending a final determination expected around September 2026, with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to operationalise the rates by public notice. The investigation was petition-driven by Korean steelmakers (Dongkuk CM, KG Steel, SeAH CM) in November 2025, responding to a surge in Chinese galvanized cold-rolled imports following the US Section 232 50% steel tariff escalation that redirected Chinese supply to Korea and SE Asia.
The European Commission approved Bulgaria's Electricity Price Relief Scheme (State Aid Case SA.120414) under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), authorising €334 million for energy-intensive industries over a three-year corridor from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. Aid is delivered via a reduction on beneficiaries' monthly electricity bills through their suppliers, subject to a minimum price floor of €50/MWh. This is the first EU member-state scheme approved under the CISAF framework, establishing the precedential template for subsequent CISAF approvals across the EU industrial base.
On 13 April 2026 the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement, in trilogue with the Commission, on the new EU steel safeguard regulation that will replace the existing WTO-safeguard-based measure (Regulation (EU) 2019/159, last tightened by Implementing Regulation 2025/612) expiring on 30 June 2026. The agreement adopts the core architecture of the Commission's October 2025 proposal (procedure 2025/0726(COD)): an overall duty-free tariff-rate quota of approximately 18.3 million tonnes per year — a roughly 47% reduction versus the 2024 safeguard quotas — covering 30 product categories, with the out-of-quota customs duty raised from 25% to 50%. The deal also introduces a mandatory "country of melt and pour" declaratory requirement on steel imports and obliges the Commission to assess, within two years, whether the country of melt-and-pour should become the basis for country-specific TRQ allocations (closing transhipment loopholes that have allowed Chinese-melted steel to enter via third-country processors). The co-legislators added a reinforced and time-bound review mechanism: a first Commission review of product scope within six months of entry into force, with subsequent biennial scope reviews thereafter. Statutorily, this is a NEW instrument — a regulation adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, not an implementing act under the WTO Agreement on Safeguards / Regulation (EU) 2015/478 — so it is filed as a new action with a `responds_to` link to the predecessor regime. Formal adoption by Council and EP plenary is expected in May 2026 ahead of the 1 July 2026 application date.
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.
Mexico's Secretaría de Economía published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 9 April 2026 the final resolution of the administrative sunset review (examen de vigencia) of the compensatory (anti-dumping) duty on imports of steel cable (cables de acero) originating in the People's Republic of China, regardless of country of consignment. The resolution maintains the definitive duty of USD 2.58 per kilogram for a further five years, counted from 17 December 2024 through December 2029. The measure covers tariff fractions 7312.10.01, 7312.10.05, 7312.10.07 and 7312.10.99, is collected by SHCP/SAT, and entered into force on 10 April 2026, the day after DOF publication.
Presidential Proclamation 11021 of 2 April 2026 (signed by President Trump, effective 6 April 2026 at 12:01 a.m. EDT, published 9 April 2026 at 91 FR 18201) consolidates and restructures the Section 232 tariff architecture for aluminum, steel, and copper. The proclamation modifies Proclamations 9704 (aluminum), 9705 (steel), and 10962 (copper) and applies tiered ad valorem duties to the full customs value of imported articles regardless of metal content: 50% on aluminum/steel articles and most copper articles; 25% on certain copper articles and on derivative articles substantially made of the three metals; 10% on derivative articles produced abroad using entirely US-smelted/cast metals; and 0% supplemental duty where existing tariffs already meet a 15% combined-rate floor. UK products receive preferential rates (25% on primary articles and 15% on certain derivatives) contingent on UK smelting/casting under the US–UK trade framework.
On 2 April 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade signed Decision 612/QĐ-BCT imposing a provisional anti-circumvention duty of 27.83% on hot-rolled steel coil/sheet (HRC) imports from China in widths above 1,880mm up to 2,300mm (thickness 1.2-25.4mm, ~24 HS codes under HS 7208 and 7226), effective 17 April 2026. The Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam found that Chinese exporters were widening HRC coils beyond the 1,880mm ceiling of Vietnam's existing definitive anti-dumping measure (Decision 1959/QĐ-BCT, case AD20) specifically to evade that duty, and the new measure extends the same 27.83% rate to the wider product range under a distinct anti-circumvention investigation (case AC03.AD20, initiated via Decision 3176/QĐ-BCT on 27 October 2025).
Egypt's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade issued a ministerial decree on 31 March 2026 imposing definitive three-year safeguard duties on imports of flat-rolled steel products — covering hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC), hot-dip galvanized/galvannealed (HDG/GI), and pre-painted steel (PPGI) — effective 1 April 2026 and running through approximately 13 September 2028. The measure converts the 200-day provisional safeguard (Ministerial Decision No. 400/2025, effective 14 September 2025) into a definitive instrument and simultaneously extends coverage to CRC, HDG and PPGI products that had been subject to a separate parallel investigation launched September 2025; Egypt concurrently terminated the anti-dumping probe on CRC/HDG/PPGI from China and Turkey without imposing AD duties, making the safeguard the sole operative instrument. Duties are erga-omnes (all WTO Members, subject to Article 9.1 developing-country de minimis) and follow a three-tier declining-duty structure: CRC at 13.7%/min USD 83/t in Year 1, falling to 12.5%/min USD 76/t in Year 3; HDG at 14%/min USD 93/t declining to 13%; PPGI at 14.5% declining to 13.5%.
The Government of Tanzania signed a Development Agreement with Panda Hill Tanzania Limited (a subsidiary of US-based Denham Capital / Tremont Investments) on 24 March 2026 in Mbeya to develop the Panda Hill niobium and ferroniobium project in the Mbeya/Songwe region. Under the agreement, the Government holds a 16% non-dilutable free carried interest in the project special-purpose vehicle, with Panda Hill Tanzania Limited committing to an initial capital investment of USD 442 million to construct Tanzania's first niobium mine and ferroniobium smelting plant — the first ferroniobium processing facility in Africa. At full production, the project is expected to supply approximately 4–5% of global niobium demand, generating USD 686 million in lifetime government revenues (royalties, taxes, and 16% equity dividends), positioning Tanzania among the world's top-four niobium producers alongside Brazil's CBMM, Canada's Niobec, and China Molybdenum.
South Africa's ITAC, acting on an application by ArcelorMittal South Africa and Columbus Stainless Steel, imposed definitive five-year anti-dumping duties on certain flat-rolled products of iron and steel (width ≥600 mm, HS 7208 and 7225 subheadings) from China (company-specific rates up to 47.92%), Japan (up to 57.23%) and Taiwan (24.20%), effective 19 March 2026 via SARS amendment to Schedule No. 2 of the Customs and Excise Act. The Commission found dumping from all three origins and material injury to the SACU regional industry (full findings in ITAC Report 767). Duties are layered on top of the existing 10% ordinary customs duty and 13% steel safeguard, substantially raising the landed cost of flat-rolled steel from Asia.
South Africa's International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) recommended, and SARS implemented on 19 March 2026, definitive five-year anti-dumping duties on U, I and H sections of iron or non-alloy steel (structural steel, HS 7216.31, 7216.32, 7216.33 and 7216.40) imported from China (74.98%) and Thailand (20.32%). The investigation, initiated on an application by ArcelorMittal Rails and Structures (AMRAS), found dumped imports — totalling 28,800 tonnes in 2023/24, with China supplying ~65% — were causing material injury to the SACU domestic industry (full findings in ITAC Report 759). The definitive duties layer on top of an existing 10% ordinary customs duty and a 13% SACU-wide steel safeguard duty, bringing the effective total import burden on Chinese structural steel to approximately 98% above the base tariff.
The UK's steel safeguard measure (25% out-of-quota duty) expired 30 June 2026 and was replaced from 1 July 2026 by a new tariff-rate-quota trade measure, announced by the Department for Business and Trade on 19 March 2026. The new measure cuts overall duty-free quota volumes by 51% versus the expired safeguard and raises the out-of-quota tariff to 50% by value, applied across 20 steel product categories. Ukraine-origin steel is exempt; two non-alloy wire commodity codes drop to 0% duty from 1 October 2026.
The UK Finance Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 18 March 2026, establishes the primary statutory framework for the United Kingdom Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (UK CBAM), granting HM Revenue & Customs the assessment, collection, and enforcement powers needed to apply a carbon-content levy on imports of aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, and iron & steel from 1 January 2027. Two tranches of draft secondary legislation (the CBAM Regulations 2026 covering administration, rate calculation/carbon-price relief, emissions and verification, and transitory provisions) were published for technical consultation on 10 February 2026 (closing 24 March 2026) and again in Spring 2026 (closing 21 May 2026). The mechanism imposes a UK ETS-linked benchmark price on the embedded carbon of in-scope imports, with a credit for verified third-country carbon prices already paid, and — unlike the EU CBAM — has no transitional reporting phase and a narrower initial sectoral scope (no electricity).
Presidential Decreto 0264, signed on 16 March 2026 by President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego with Minister of Commerce Diana Marcela Morales Rojas and Minister of Finance Germán Ávila Plazas, sets a 35% MFN import duty on 14 steel and metal-mechanical subpartidas (bars, profiles, tubes, wire products, barbed wire) covering HS chapters 72-73 imported from countries with which Colombia has no free-trade agreement — primarily China, Russia, Turkey, and India. The measure is valid for one year from its entry into force (15 days after Diario Oficial publication on 16 March 2026), after which the Comité de Asuntos Aduaneros, Arancelario y de Comercio Exterior must review its impact. It partially amends Decreto 1881 de 2021 and operationalises the Política Nacional de Reindustrialización (CONPES 4129), the Petro administration's flagship programme to reduce Colombia's hydrocarbon dependence by building new domestic manufacturing capacity.
Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) opened a formal antidumping investigation via Circular nº 18 (12 March 2026) into imports of machined graphite electrodes (NCM 8545.11.00, diameter ≥ 350 mm) from China and India, following a petition by GrafTech Brasil Participações Ltda (subsidiary of NYSE-listed GrafTech International / EAF). DECOM's preliminary assessment found indicative dumping margins of 54.9% for Chinese-origin and 57.3% for Indian-origin electrodes. The investigation covers assembled and unassembled electrodes used in electric-arc-furnace steelmaking, ferroalloy smelting, and metal-oxide reduction. A definitive antidumping duty of up to five years may result if DECOM confirms material injury and issues a positive final determination.
On 11 March 2026 USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer initiated parallel Section 301 investigations into the acts, policies, and practices of 16 economies — China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India — relating to structural excess capacity and overproduction in manufacturing sectors. The Federal Register notice (FR doc 2026-05214; dockets USTR-2026-0067 and USTR-2026-0068) was published on 17 March 2026. Covered sectors include aluminum, automobiles, batteries, cement, chemicals, electronics, energy goods, glass, machine tools, machinery, paper, plastics, processed food and beverages, robotics, satellites, semiconductors, ships, solar modules, steel, and transportation equipment. Written comments were due by 15 April 2026; USTR held the public hearing beginning 5 May 2026. This is the most sweeping multi-economy Section 301 initiative since the 2018 China investigation and is structurally distinct from the China-only 2024-05-14 §301 tariff hikes and the 2025-07-15 Brazil §301 investigation.
Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission issued Anti-Dumping Notice No. 2026/031 (Case 659) in March 2026, making a second Preliminary Affirmative Determination (PAD) on dumped imports of certain strata reinforcing steel bolts from China, amending the securities schedule under Customs Act 1901 s.42 and extending the determination to cover provisional countervailing duties for the first time. The goods — hollow flat-rolled steel bolts (44–48 mm OD, 2.2–2.5 m length) used in underground mining and tunnelling roof-and-rib support — are subject to revised interim security rates pending the Commissioner's final report to the Minister (due 16 April 2026). The applicant is DSI Underground Australia Pty Ltd; the Statement of Essential Facts (SEF 659) was released concurrently.
On 23 February 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 461st plenary meeting adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against hot-rolled carbon and alloy steel (HRC) imports from China and Japan, recommending definitive five-year duties of 28.16–33.10% on Chinese-origin HRC and 31.58–33.57% on Japanese-origin HRC to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) for implementation via customs notification. The investigation was initiated in March 2024 on petition by Hyundai Steel, following December 2023 injury allegations, with provisional duties imposed in September 2025. KTC simultaneously recommended acceptance of price-undertaking commitments from three Japanese companies (including JFE Steel and Nippon Steel) and six Chinese companies (including Baosteel), allowing those exporters to avoid the definitive duties by maintaining minimum import-price levels; remaining non-participating exporters face the full duty rates under a five-year WTO ADA Article 11 sunset ending 2031.
Brazil's Câmara de Comércio Exterior (Gecex) published Resolução 857 in the Diário Oficial da União on 23 February 2026, reducing definitive anti-dumping duties on non-oriented electrical steel (aço GNO, NCM 7225.19.00 and 7226.19.00) originating in China, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Germany. The measure follows a public-interest evaluation (avaliação de interesse público) concluded by SECEX/DECOM, which found that applying the full investigation-recommended duty level would create steel supply shortfalls and net welfare losses of approximately US$2.19 million, given that sole domestic producer Aperam South America cannot meet total Brazilian demand. New specific duties — US$90/ton for major named Asian producers, US$132.50/ton for other Asian exporters, and US$166.32/ton for German producers — are set below the DECOM recommendation and remain in force for the remainder of the 5-year window established by Gecex 758 of 10 July 2025 (expiring ~July 2030).
Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber Executive Committee (GECEX/CAMEX) imposed a five-year definitive antidumping duty on imports of flat-rolled carbon steel products galvanized (by electrolytic or other process, except corrugated) or aluminium-coated — including aluminium-zinc and other metal-alloy coatings — originating in China, classified under fifteen NCM subheadings spanning 7210.30, 7210.49, 7210.61, 7210.69, 7212.20, 7212.30, 7225.91, 7225.92, 7225.99, and 7226.99. The resolution was adopted at GECEX's 234th ordinary meeting on 13 February 2026 and entered into force upon publication in the Diário Oficial da União (Edição 32) on 18 February 2026. Duties are applied as a specific tariff in USD per metric tonne, with individual rates for cooperating Chinese exporters and a residual rate for non-cooperating producers.