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

MOFCOM Announcement No. 44 of 2026 (3 October 2026) initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imports of para-nitrotoluene (对硝基甲苯, 4-nitrotoluene, HS 29042020 — an intermediate used in dyes, pigments, pesticides and pharmaceuticals) originating in the European Union. The petition was filed by Jiangsu Huaihe Chemical Co., Ltd. and Hubei Dongfang Chemical Co., Ltd. on behalf of China's domestic industry. The dumping investigation period runs 1 July 2025–30 June 2026; the injury investigation period runs 1 January 2022–30 June 2026. No provisional measures or duties are imposed by this announcement; MOFCOM expects to conclude by 3 October 2027, extendable by six months. Press reporting cites the petitioners' preliminary evidence as alleging a dumping margin exceeding 100%, but that figure is not disclosed in the MOFCOM text itself. The probe lands six days before EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is due in Beijing (8–9 October 2026) for talks aimed at defusing EU-China trade tension.

The UK Department for Business and Trade and the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation published two General Trade Licences, one each for Japan and South Korea, authorising UK persons to continue providing maritime transportation and related services for liquefied natural gas sourced from Russia's Sakhalin-2 project and delivered to those two countries. Both licences run from 1 January 2027 to 31 March 2028, succeed a narrower licence due to expire 1 January 2027, and are restricted to LNG supplied under contracts concluded before 17 June 2025 — no new contracts and no dealing with designated persons are authorised. The carve-out is issued under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the same instrument under which UK maritime-transport restrictions on Russian LNG otherwise apply from 1 January 2027.

The US Department of State amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to remove Syria from the list of countries subject to a policy of denial for defense-article and defense-service export licenses and other approvals. The rule is effective on publication, 1 October 2026, and is the next formal step in unwinding the Assad-era denial posture — following the June 2025 revocation of comprehensive sanctions (EO 14312) and BIS's parallel September 2025 relaxation of EAR controls on Syria. It does not itself grant licenses; it removes the blanket presumption of denial so individual ITAR license applications for Syria can now be evaluated case-by-case.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued Notification No. 41/2026-27 on 30 September 2026, extending the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme through 31 December 2026. Coverage continues for Domestic Tariff Area units, Advance Authorisation holders, Special Economic Zone units and Export Oriented Units. The existing RoDTEP rates and value caps under Appendix 4R/4RE, as applicable on 30 September 2026, carry over unchanged for the extended period — this is a rollover of an existing broad-based export duty-remission program, not a change in rates or scope.

MOFCOM's Foreign Trade Division issued Trade Letter [2026] No. 404 on 29 September 2026, opening the annual declaration cycle for 2027 automobile and motorcycle export licences under China's 2012 export-order licensing framework. The online application system opens 30 September 2026 and local commerce departments must complete initial review and submit applications to MOFCOM by 28 October 2026. For the first time, all applicants — including Category A manufacturers and vehicle-modification producers — must submit a new "Overseas Compliance Management Commitment Letter" pledging to follow pricing regulations and refrain from disrupting market order to gain unfair competitive advantage; companies that miss the deadline or fail to submit required documentation lose eligibility for an export licence.

Following President Xi Jinping's September 2026 Washington summit with President Trump, the newly formed US-China Board of Trade released its first concrete output: "30-FOR-30" lists naming US and Chinese products recommended for reciprocal reduced-tariff treatment, covering roughly $30 billion of goods on each side. US exports named include agricultural products, wood products and cosmetics; Chinese exports named include small appliances, toys and decorations. The Board — established after the May 2026 Trump-Xi Beijing summit and preceded by a June 2026 USTR request for comments — describes the lists as recommendations only: any actual preferential tariff treatment remains subject to further decisions by both governments, so no tariff rate has yet changed.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2101 of 24 September 2026 imposes a definitive anti-dumping duty, and definitively collects the provisional duty, on imports of pea protein originating in the People's Republic of China. The product is pea protein containing more than 65% protein on a dry-weight basis, from any pea type (yellow or green field peas), solid or liquid, textured or not. Press reports put the definitive duties at 40.5%-67.1% by exporting producer, for five years, following provisional duties applied since 29 April 2026 under Regulation (EU) 2026/916.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2107 of 22 September 2026 imposes a definitive countervailing duty on imports of continuous filament glass fibre products (GFR) originating in Egypt, following an expiry review under Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037. The Commission found that subsidisation of the Egyptian GFR industry continued during the 2024 review investigation period and remained above the de minimis threshold. The review was requested on 21 March 2025 by Glass Fibre Europe on behalf of the Union industry and opened on 24 June 2025.

The European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2107 of 22 September 2026, imposing a definitive countervailing duty on imports of continuous filament glass fibre products ("GFR" — glass fibre reinforcements/rovings) originating in Egypt for a further five years, following an expiry review under Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037. The review found continued subsidisation of the Egyptian GFR industry above the de minimis threshold during the 2024 review- investigation period, via preferential financing, capital-investment support, VAT/import-duty exemptions and rebates, and provision of land for less-than-adequate remuneration. The measure continues the 13.1% countervailing duty first imposed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/870 in June 2020.

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."

President Trump signed H.R. 5334, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, into law on 18 September 2026, after the House concurred in Senate amendments on 16 September 2026 (262-159) and the Senate passed it on 7 August 2026 (86-11). The Act authorizes a 500% tariff on all US imports of Russian-origin goods and up to 100% tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil and gas and the top five countries supporting Russia's oil "shadow fleet," alongside sanctions on Russian banks, the Russian financial system, and shadow-fleet vessels. It also extends the Iran Sanctions Act through 2031. All tariff/sanctions authority is discretionary: the President may decline to impose it by certifying to Congress that doing so serves the national interest, and may terminate it if Russia agrees to a durable peace with Ukraine. The Act sunsets five years after enactment.

The US Department of State amends the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (22 CFR Parts 120, 123, 125 and 126) to clarify certain policy-of-denial provisions, update country policies for Ethiopia and Somalia, add Saudi Arabia and Peru to the list of Major Non-NATO Allies (MNNA), and make other miscellaneous corrections. The Ethiopia change implements a February 5, 2026 Secretary of State determination terminating the ITAR policy of denial on defense-article and defense-service exports to Ethiopia's armed forces, police, intelligence and other internal-security forces — a change from the denial posture imposed during the Tigray war. Saudi Arabia and Peru's MNNA designations (Presidential determinations of January 13 and 14, 2026 respectively) make both countries eligible for preferential ITAR treatment, including certain license exemptions, priority license-application review, and participation in cooperative defense R&D programs. The rule is effective on publication.

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition requested ITAC, under section 16(1)(d)(i) of the International Trade Administration Act (Act No. 71 of 2002), to review the tariff structure — including relevant trade remedy measures — for the paper and paper products sector and to investigate introducing an import surveillance system covering goods classifiable under Customs and Excise Act Chapters 48.01, 48.02, 48.03, 48.04, 48.05, 48.11, 48.18 and 48.23. The review was prompted by industry concerns over rising import penetration, declining print-paper demand, and rising input costs (electricity, transport) squeezing local pulp and paper producers, who have invested over R33 billion in the sector over the past seven years. ITAC has invited stakeholder comment via a questionnaire, due within four weeks of the notice date; no tariff or surveillance measure has yet been adopted.

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.

On 14-16 September 2026 in Seoul, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources hosted the first Korea-Central Asia (C5+1) Industry Ministers' Meeting and Business Summit with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, establishing a standing multilateral ministerial consultation channel. Nine bilateral and multilateral government cooperation documents were signed alongside 116 business-level MOUs, including a Korea-Uzbekistan critical-minerals platform MOU and a Korea-Uzbekistan MOU on AI-driven manufacturing innovation tied to ODA projects. Named strategic materials span lithium, uranium and rare earths; other bilateral documents cover crude oil and nuclear energy (Kazakhstan), a revised trade/investment framework (Kyrgyzstan), industrial cooperation (Tajikistan) and chemical-industry cooperation (Turkmenistan). No financial commitments were disclosed.

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.

On 14 September 2026 the European Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation (reference C(2026)6323) amending Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2021/821 to add newly-controlled dual-use items implementing the 2025 multilateral cycle of the Wassenaar Arrangement, MTCR, Australia Group, and NSG. New entries include semiconductor fabrication equipment (atomic layer deposition, EUV inspection systems, wafer cleaning), advanced computing ICs with digital processing units, ceramic matrix composites, additive-manufacturing systems for energetic materials, and chemical vapor deposition equipment for silicon carbide fibre production. The regulation is not yet in force: it now enters the standard two-month European Parliament/Council non-objection scrutiny period before publication in the Official Journal.

On September 14, 2026, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company under Executive Order 13902 (Iran financial-sector sanctions), citing correspondent banking relationships VTB built with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions and settlement systems VTB created for bilateral rial/ruble trade that Treasury says moved frozen Iranian assets. VTB was already designated under EO 13662 (2025) and EO 14024 (2022) for Russia-related conduct; this action adds an Iran-sanctions legal basis and SDN listing, part of the broader "Operation Economic Outcast" campaign Secretary Bessent announced August 24, 2026. No specific dollar figure for the moved assets was disclosed.

The US Department of State amends 22 CFR §126.1 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to extend the suspension of the Republic of Cyprus's status as a proscribed destination for defense exports, imports and sales for a further one-year period, from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. The rule continues the current policy that originally lifted the arms embargo to Cyprus effective October 1, 2022, and has been renewed annually since. No new relief or restriction is introduced; the suspension is extended on its existing terms.

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 the UK Export Control Joint Unit published Notice to Exporters 2026/19, revoking and replacing the Open General Licence (Global Combat Air Programme) and issuing a new Open General Export Licence for "de minimis" exports under the UK-France-Germany-Spain Agreement on Defence Export Controls (published 10 December 2025). The new OGEL implements the Agreement's de-minimis principle: where UK-origin content does not exceed 20% of the value of a final defence system integrated by France, Germany or Spain, re-export/re-transfer authorisation is granted without case-by-case licensing, subject to a national-security carve-out. Both licences remove individual application requirements for a defined category of collaborative defence-programme exports rather than introducing new restrictions.

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued a preliminary anti-dumping ruling on imports of dichlorosilane (DCS, SiH2Cl2, HS 28539090) originating from Japan, finding dumping and material injury to the domestic DCS industry. Effective September 8, 2026, importers must post cash deposits with Chinese customs at company-specific provisional rates: 99.2% for Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. and all other Japanese producers, and 80.8% for Denal Silane Co., Ltd. DCS is a precursor gas used in chip-fab thin-film deposition (epitaxial, silicon-carbide, silicon-nitride, oxide and polysilicon films) for logic, memory and analog semiconductors. The investigation was initiated January 7, 2026 (MOFCOM Announcement 2026 No. 2); a final determination is pending.

On 7 September 2026 the UK made the Iran (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/983), laid before Parliament 8 September 2026 and due to come into force 29 September 2026. The instrument substantially rewrites the Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023 and the Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2019, adding new financial restrictions (bans on loans, credit and joint ventures with Iranian manufacturing, oil/gas, petrochemical and uranium interests; a ban on UK banks opening accounts or representative offices for Iranian banks; an insurance/reinsurance ban; a ban on trading Iranian government bonds issued after the regulation date), new trade-control chapters covering gold/precious metals/diamonds, energy-related goods and services, and sectoral software, new import bans on Iranian gold, oil, petrochemicals and natural gas, and new aircraft/shipping parts restricting Iranian cargo flights, chartering of specified vessels, and UK port entry and ship registration for sanctions-evading vessels.

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.

Following concurrent first five-year ("sunset") reviews, the US Department of Commerce and USITC determined that revoking the antidumping duty orders on silicon metal from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Malaysia, and the countervailing duty order on silicon metal from Kazakhstan, would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping, countervailable subsidies and material injury to the US industry. Commerce published continuation of all four orders effective 2026-09-03, so US Customs and Border Protection keeps collecting AD/CVD cash deposits at the existing rates — Kazakhstan's 120.00% economy-wide CVD rate, Bosnia and Herzegovina's 21.41% AD rate, Iceland's 37.83%-47.54% AD range, and Malaysia's 12.27% final AD rate — for a further five years absent a subsequent review.

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.

The US Department of State published an interim final rule removing from the US Munitions List (USML) certain civil aircraft modified to incorporate aircraft survivability equipment (ASE) — directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) and the missile-warning systems that operate them, used to protect aircraft from MANPADS and other guided-weapon threats. Qualifying aircraft (FAA- or allied-NATO-certificated transport/commuter types before modification) move from State/ITAR licensing jurisdiction to the less restrictive Commerce/EAR regime under ECCN 9A991.b. The rule also excludes certain reexport and temporary-import activities involving such ASE from ITAR licensing requirements entirely. Effective October 13, 2026, with public comments accepted through September 28, 2026.

The US Department of State extended, through 30 August 2028, a standing temporary modification of Category XI(b) of the US Munitions List (USML) — the ITAR category covering electronic systems and software specially designed for collecting, surveying, monitoring or exploiting the electromagnetic spectrum for intelligence purposes. The modification reinstates pre-30-December-2014 control scope by reinserting the phrase "analyze and produce information from" and adding software to the Category XI(b) description, after a 2014 USML revision was read by some exporters as narrowing coverage of intelligence-analytics software. This is the latest in a chain of extensions dating to the original July 2014 rule (79 FR 37536), most recently extended through August 2026 (86 FR 48021); no new items are added to or removed from the Munitions List by this action.

At the 3rd meeting of METI's Industrial Structure Council Mining Subcommittee (2026-08-20), METI presented a policy-direction paper proposing to let JOGMEC (Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security) acquire equity stakes in overseas critical-mineral mining and refining projects on its own, without the Japanese private co-investor currently required under JOGMEC's funding rules. The change targets rare earths, nickel, manganese and other minerals designated critical under Japan's Economic Security Promotion Act, for projects too risky to draw private capital; JOGMEC would hold the stake for roughly a decade before selling down to private firms. This is a committee policy-direction document, not yet a cabinet order, ministerial ordinance or budget appropriation.

The European Commission initiated an investigation under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1925 of 6 August 2026 into possible circumvention, via Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia and Serbia, of the anti-dumping duties imposed by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/357 on open mesh fabrics of glass fibres originating in China. A corrigendum correcting certain language versions of the initiating regulation was published 6 September 2026. The Commission suspects Chinese producers are routing product through Balkan and Moldovan assemblers to avoid duties currently ranging 48.4%–62.9% ad valorem on Chinese-origin open mesh fabrics.

On 29 July 2026 Allied Gold Corporation (TSX/NYSE: AAUC) and Zijin Gold International Company Ltd. terminated their previously announced C$5.5B (~US$3.9-4B) arrangement agreement, under which Zijin Gold would have acquired 100% of Allied Gold, after concluding the deal's closing conditions would not be satisfied by the 29 July 2026 outside date. Trade press (ION Analytics/Dealreporter, Investing News Network, Ecofin Agency) reports the transaction stalled because China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) required in-depth review over two concerns: the premium Zijin was paying relative to Allied's market valuation, and geopolitical-risk concentration from Allied's exposure to Mali, which supplies roughly half of Allied's gold output (via the Sadiola mine). In place of the full takeover, Zijin Gold agreed same-day to a non-brokered private placement subscribing for ~12.8 million Allied common shares at C$32.55/share (~US$295M gross proceeds), taking a 9.2% stake expected to close on or about 10 August 2026. This is the first Chinese outbound mining M&A the register has logged since 2025-04-23, following a roughly 16-month gap, and marks an outbound-investment-screening precedent constraining a Chinese SOE-adjacent acquirer's exposure to Sahel political risk.

On 24 July 2026 Commerce's International Trade Administration published the preliminary results of the first full five-year ("sunset") review of the countervailing duty order on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco (case C-714-004, in force since 2021). Commerce preliminarily determined that revoking the order would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy to OCP Group at a rate of 20.04% ad valorem — well above OCP's most recent administrative-review rate of 16.81% and the 2.11% rate that applied after a December 2025 court remand. The review is procedural and does not itself change the duty currently being collected; it addresses whether the underlying CVD order survives long-term, separate from the temporary emergency AD/CVD duty-free window the White House granted on 29 June 2026.

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.