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Sultan Haitham bin Tariq issued Royal Decree 38/2025 on 7 April 2025, published in the Sultanate of Oman Official Gazette on 13 April 2025, enacting a unified statutory framework for Oman's special economic zones (SEZs) and free zones (FZs) under the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ). The law consolidates the previously fragmented regimes governing Duqm SEZ, Salalah Free Zone, Sohar Free Zone, Al Mazunah Free Zone, and Knowledge Oasis Muscat into a single overarching statutory architecture, granting a 10-year corporate income tax exemption (renewable for high-value activities), 100% foreign ownership, full capital and profit repatriation, customs-duty exemptions on construction inputs and operational goods, and a statutory one-stop-shop through OPAZ. The law establishes OPAZ as the consolidated regulatory authority with ring-fenced powers over labour, immigration, customs, environment, and land-use within zone boundaries, and creates a new statutory basis for OPAZ to negotiate sector-specific concessions using usufruct, leasehold, and sub-concession instruments. Royal Decree 38/2025 is the principal Vision 2040 FDI-architecture instrument — the parent statute under which the GFCL Salalah LFP battery-materials usufruct, the Hyport Duqm green-ammonia project, and the Karwa Motors EV-assembly arrangement all operate.

At the first-ever EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand (4 April 2025), the European Commission and Kazakhstan endorsed the EU-Kazakhstan Strategic Partnership Roadmap 2025-2026, operationalising the 7 November 2022 MoU on Sustainable Raw Materials, Batteries, and Renewable Hydrogen with concrete two-year workstreams: geological exploration cooperation, joint R&I programmes (Horizon Europe linkages), skills and training cooperation, and promotion of ESG standards aligned with the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA, Reg. (EU) 2024/1252). The Roadmap positions Kazakhstan as the EU's primary Central-Asian CRMA Strategic Partner under Art. 37, unlocking a potential multi-billion-EUR Global Gateway financing pipeline and structurally rebalancing KZ critical-mineral export flows away from China/Russia dependencies.

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

Stortinget adopted Norway's new Minerals Act (Lov om mineralvirksomhet og forvaltning av mineralressurser) on 12 June 2025, replacing the 2009 Minerals Act and entering into force 1 July 2026. The statute introduces a national-security review pillar enabling authorities to deny or condition projects that threaten national preparedness, reduces exploration-licence duration from seven to three years to accelerate project initiation, expands Sámi consultation protections from Finnmark to all traditional Sámi areas (Sápmi), and mandates explicit alignment with the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA, Regulation (EU) 2024/1252). The Act covers Norway's most strategically significant mineral assets including the Fen carbonatite REE field (Europe's largest known REE deposit) and major copper-zinc deposits.

On 5 March 2025 the European Commission adopted Communication COM(2025) 95 final, the "Industrial Action Plan for the European Automotive Sector", a horizontal sectoral industrial-policy framework structured around five pillars: innovation and digitalisation, clean mobility, competitiveness and supply-chain resilience, skills and the social dimension, and a global level playing field. Headline financial commitments include EUR 1bn under Horizon Europe for SDV/AI in mobility (2025-2027), EUR 1.8bn Innovation Fund earmark for EU battery cell manufacturing, EUR 350m for next-generation battery R&D (2025-2027), and EUR 570m under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (2025-2026) for heavy-duty charging corridors. The plan also delivers a targeted CO2-standards flexibility allowing 2025-2027 combined-year compliance for cars and vans, and the launch of the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance.

On 24 February 2025 President Prabowo Subianto launched Badan Pengelola Investasi Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara), Indonesia's new state investment-management agency, consolidating around USD 900bn–1tn of Indonesian state-owned-enterprise assets — including Pertamina, PLN, Bank Mandiri, BRI, BNI, Telkom, MIND ID, Antam and Inalum — into a single super-holding modelled on Singapore's Temasek. Danantara was created by the Third Amendment to the BUMN Law (Law No. 1 of 2025, enacted 24 February 2025) and Government Regulation No. 10 of 2025 on its organisation and governance, with board appointments formalised by Presidential Regulation No. 30 of 2025. The agency reports directly to the President, bypassing the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, and is mandated to deploy SOE balance-sheet capacity into Prabowo's 8% growth target via co-investment in mineral downstreaming, refinery and EV-battery build-out, food security, and semiconductor / data-centre infrastructure.

South Korea's National Assembly passed the Special Act on the Expansion of the National Electricity Network (Law No. 20844) on 19 February 2025 as part of the bipartisan "Energy Trifecta Bill," with promulgation on 25 March 2025 and entry into force on 26 September 2025. The act creates an expedited siting, permitting, and compensation framework for trunk transmission-grid construction, consolidating 35 previously separate regulatory approvals into a single streamlined procedure and targeting a >30% reduction in grid-build timelines. It directly addresses the electricity-infrastructure bottleneck constraining semiconductor fab clusters (Yongin, Pyeongtaek, SK Hynix HBM), sovereign AI datacenter build-out, and EV/battery gigafactory load growth — structurally distinct from the K-Chips Act (fiscal incentives) and the Semiconductor Special Act (regulatory framework), as it unblocks the physical power-delivery constraint those programmes depend on.

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

Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB), Bolivia's state lithium SOE, signed a USD 1.030bn services contract on 26 November 2024 with Hong Kong CBC Investment Ltd. (a CATL-CMOC-BRUNP consortium) to build and operate two direct-lithium-extraction (DLE) plants on the Salar de Uyuni — one rated at 10,000 t/yr and one at 25,000 t/yr lithium carbonate, for combined 35,000 t/yr nameplate capacity. Bolivia retains a 51% sovereign share through YLB; CBC supplies financing, EDL technology and offtake. The contract was transmitted to the Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional and the Chamber of Deputies' Plural Economy, Production and Industry Commission approved it by majority in mid-2025 (Bill No. 197/2024-2025); full plenary ratification remained pending as of May 2026, with a parallel Colcha K mixed-court suspension order on FPIC (free, prior and informed consent) grounds.

Décret n° 2024/05251/PM, signed on 19 November 2024 by the Cameroonian Prime Minister, establishes the legal framework governing the possession, marketing, export, import, and transit of mineral substances in Cameroon. The decree operationalises the trade-flow control architecture introduced by the headline Loi n°2023/014 portant Code Minier (December 2023), giving effect to SONAMINES's statutory monopoly over the purchase and commercialisation of strategic minerals including gold, diamonds, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. It is one of eight implementing decrees signed 18–19 November 2024 that together constitute the full operational legal framework under the 2023 Code Minier.

The European Commission published Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2754 on 29 October 2024 imposing definitive countervailing duties on imports of new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) originating in China, effective the day after publication. Following a 13-month investigation initiated by Commissioner Dombrovskis in October 2023, the rates layered on top of the existing 10% MFN duty are: BYD 17.0%, Geely 18.8%, SAIC 35.3%, Tesla 7.8% (individually-investigated), 17.0% for sampled cooperating producers, 20.7% for non-sampled cooperating producers, 35.3% for non-cooperating producers. Duties are payable for five years from entry into force unless reviewed earlier. The measure followed a member-state vote with Germany voting against and France/Italy in favour.

Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB), Bolivia's state lithium SOE, signed a contract in September 2024 with Uranium One Group — a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom state nuclear corporation — for the design, construction, and initial operation of an industrial direct-lithium-extraction (DLE) carbonation plant at Salar de Uyuni, with initial capacity of 14,000 t/yr lithium carbonate (expandable to 25,000–45,000 t/yr), representing a total investment exceeding USD 970 million and a 51%/49% profit-split in Bolivia's favour. The contract was approved by Bolivia's Comisión de Economía Plural in February 2025 amid corruption allegations, then suspended by parliamentary motion on 14 February 2025; a Bolivian court issued a further precautionary suspension order on 27 May 2025 on human-rights, environmental, and Mother Earth rights grounds, while the Arce government continued to insist on legislative ratification through at least 29 May 2025.

On 26 July 2024 President Erdoğan unveiled the HIT-30 (High-Technology Investment Programme), Türkiye's largest single industrial-finance instrument since the 2018 Investment Office reform, allocating USD 30 billion in state support over 2024-2030 to attract investment across 37 priority programmes spanning electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, solar/wind energy, green hydrogen, hyperscale data centres, biotechnological medicine, industrial robotics, and R&D. The Ministry of Industry and Technology is the operating agency, with the Industrialization Executive Committee chaired by the President providing high-level oversight; an Industrialisation Executive Committee under the President directs sectoral allocations. Headline tools include USD 4.5bn earmarked for an 80 GWh battery-manufacturing capacity (with USD 6,000/MWh grants through 2030), USD 2.5bn for 15 GW of domestic solar-cell capacity, USD 1.7bn for wind-component manufacturing, USD 1bn for top-1000 corporate R&D centre support (covering 50% of personnel costs for 5 years), corporate tax reductions, social-security-contribution coverage, energy-cost subsidies covering 50% of bills for energy-intensive projects, customs/VAT exemptions, and free or discounted land allocation in organised industrial zones. Programme targets at least USD 20bn in private-sector co-investment.

The European Commission and the Republic of Serbia signed a non-legally-binding Memorandum of Understanding on 19 July 2024 at the Serbian Critical Raw Materials Summit in Belgrade, establishing a Strategic Partnership covering sustainable raw materials, battery value chains and electric vehicles. The MoU commits both parties to developing integrated upstream-to-downstream value chains, sharing knowledge on sustainable extraction and processing, applying high ESG standards, mobilising EU financial instruments (EIB, EBRD, Western Balkans Investment Framework, Global Gateway), and promoting skills development in battery and raw-materials sectors. Serbia's strategic importance derives from its hosting of the Jadar Valley lithium-borate deposit (Rio Tinto), estimated to contain approximately 10% of world lithium reserves and among the largest lithium deposits in Europe.

On 27 June 2024 the Argentine Congress passed Law 27.742, the "Ley de Bases y Puntos de Partida para la Libertad de los Argentinos" ("Ley Bases"), the flagship economic reform of the Milei administration. The law was published in the Boletín Oficial on 8 July 2024 and Title VII established the Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones (RIGI) — a promotional regime designed to attract large-scale capex into mining, energy, oil & gas, LNG, steel, forestry, tourism, infrastructure, and technology. Implementing Decree 749/2024 was issued on 23 August 2024 and the regime became fully operational with Resolution 1074/2024 on 22 October 2024. RIGI offers single-project vehicles ("VPUs") that commit at least USD 200M (with sector-specific thresholds rising to USD 600M and up to USD 2B for long-term "strategic export" projects) a 30-year regulatory, tax, customs and foreign-exchange stability guarantee. Headline benefits include a reduced 25% corporate income tax (vs. 35% standard), accelerated depreciation, full deductibility of inflation adjustments, an import-duty exemption on capital goods and inputs, a phased relaxation of central-bank obligations to repatriate and convert export proceeds (20% free after year one, 40% after year two, 100% after year three), and reduced dividend withholding tax. Disputes are subject to international arbitration under ICSID or UNCITRAL rules. As of mid-2025, RIGI's project pipeline reached USD 33.9B in submitted applications, of which roughly USD 15.7B (46.5%) had been approved across nine projects spanning steel (Sidersa), energy/LNG (PAE Southern Energy, YPF Argentina LNG), three mining projects, and infrastructure. The flagship approval was Rio Tinto's USD 2.5B Rincón battery-grade lithium carbonate plant in Salta (initial 53,000 t/yr, scaling to 60,000 t/yr by 2028) — the first mining project approved under the regime, on 21 May 2025. Strategically, RIGI is Argentina's bid to compete with Chile's lithium framework and Brazil's industrial policies for upstream-critical-minerals capex. Combined with the lifting of Argentina's FX controls (cepo cambiario) in April 2025 it sharply re-rates the country's project-economics math for multinationals — particularly in the Lithium Triangle, the Vaca Muerta shale, and pipeline/LNG infrastructure. Whether the 30-year stability guarantee survives a future change of government is the dominant political-risk overhang on the regime.

Presidential Decree (Cumhurbaşkanı Kararı) No. 8639, dated 7 June 2024 and published in the Resmi Gazete on 8 June 2024, amends Türkiye's Decision on the Application of Additional Customs Duty on Imports to impose a 40% additional ad valorem duty (or USD 7,000 per unit, whichever is higher) on China-origin passenger vehicles classified under HS heading 8703 — covering internal-combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric models. The measure entered into force 30 days after publication, on 7 July 2024, with an exemption for imports made under an Investment Incentive Certificate (Yatırım Teşvik Belgesi) — explicitly designed to channel Chinese OEMs into domestic Turkish assembly.

Australia's Future Made in Australia package, announced in the 2024-25 Federal Budget on 14 May 2024, commits A$22.7bn over 10 years to position Australia as a preferred supplier in the global clean-energy and critical-minerals supply chain. The two flagship production tax incentives are: (1) the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive (10% of eligible processing and refining costs for 31 critical minerals) and (2) the Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive (A$2 per kg of eligible renewable or low-emissions hydrogen, 2027-2040). A National Interest Framework administered by DISR determines which investments qualify. The framework act established a Future Made in Australia Coordinator and consolidated existing industrial-support vehicles (NAIF, EFA) under a single policy lens.

The Biden administration announced on 14 May 2024 a package of Section 301 tariff increases on Chinese imports following the four-year statutory review of the original 2018-2019 tariffs. The hikes target sectors central to the US-China industrial-policy contest: BEVs went from 25% to 100%, lithium- ion EV batteries 7.5% → 25% (with non-EV battery cells rising in 2026), battery parts 7.5% → 25%, natural graphite + magnets 0% → 25% (phased to 2026), semiconductors 25% → 50% (phased to 2025), solar cells 25% → 50%, steel + aluminum products in selected categories 0-7.5% → 25%, ship-to-shore cranes 0% → 25%, certain medical products 0-7.5% → 50%. USTR issued the final determination on 13 September 2024 with most items effective 27 September 2024.

Act No. 9 of 2025, given Royal Assent on 14 February 2025, enacts the two production tax credits announced in the May 2024 Future Made in Australia package. Schedule 1 creates the Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive (HPTI): A$2/kg refundable tax offset for eligible renewable hydrogen produced with emissions intensity below 0.6 kgCO2e/kg H2. Schedule 2 creates the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive (CMPTI): a refundable 10% tax offset on eligible processing and refining expenditure for the 31 minerals on Australia's Critical Minerals List. Both offsets apply to production occurring between 1 July 2027 and 30 June 2040, capped at 10 years per project, administered by the ATO via new Divisions 419 (CMPTI) and 421 (HPTI) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

The European Commission approved on 8 April 2024 a €267 million Slovak State aid measure (SA.103740) under Article 107(3)(a) TFEU and the 2022 Regional Aid Guidelines to support Volvo Cars Slovakia s.r.o.'s construction of a new battery-electric-vehicle manufacturing plant in the Valaliky Strategic Industrial Park near Košice in eastern Slovakia. The facility is designed for up to 250,000 BEVs per year against a total private investment of approximately €1.2 billion, creating around 3,300 direct jobs in one of Slovakia's least-developed NUTS-2 regions. The aid takes the form of a direct cash grant and marks the single largest project-level EU state-aid notification by Slovakia in over a decade, anchoring the country's pivot from ICE-vehicle sub-assembly toward full BEV manufacturing.

Slovakia's Národná rada adopted Act No. 31/2024 Z.z. on 13 February 2024, amending Act No. 57/2018 Z.z. on Regional Investment Aid by inserting two new sections — §28a (Mimoriadna investičná pomoc / Exceptional Investment Aid) and §28b (Exceptional Investment Aid in sectors strategic for the transition to a climate-neutral economy) — creating the national legal base for disbursing the EC-approved €1 billion Slovak TCTF net-zero state-aid envelope (EC decision 15 December 2023, SA case approved under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework). The scheme supports manufacturers of batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers, CCUS equipment, key components thereof, and related critical raw materials, with aid ceilings of €350 million per project in general districts and €150 million in Bratislava region, at aid intensities of 15–60% depending on company size and geography. Act 31/2024 is the horizontal enabling statute underpinning all large-scale Slovak net-zero state-aid awards flowing from the TCTF/NZIA envelopes — including future battery gigafactory, electrolyser, and clean-tech plant grants in the 2024–2025 window.

On 19 December 2023, the Thai Cabinet endorsed the second phase of the national electric-vehicle support programme ("EV 3.5") covering 2024-2027, following its approval by the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee. The Excise Department published the implementing Notification on 28 December 2023; the regime entered into force on 1 January 2024. EV 3.5 combines (i) per-vehicle purchase subsidies of THB 50,000-100,000 for battery-electric passenger cars and pick-ups, (ii) a reduction in excise duty on BEV passenger cars priced ≤ THB 7 million from 8% to 2%, and (iii) up to 40% import-duty relief on Completely Built-Up (CBU) BEV passenger cars priced ≤ THB 2 million during 2024-2025. Participating OEMs must offset CBU imports with domestic Thai production at a 1:2 ratio by end-2026 and 1:3 by end-2027, or face clawback of the granted incentives. The package is the operational successor to EV 3.0 (2022-2023) and was designed to lock in the wave of Chinese-OEM gigafactory and assembly investment that EV 3.0 attracted (BYD Rayong, MG/SAIC, GAC AION, Great Wall Motor, NETA, Changan, Chery). By the August 2025 EV-Board meeting Thailand had logged > THB 137 billion in approved EV-supply-chain investment under the combined EV 3.0 + EV 3.5 envelope. EV 3.5 is the central instrument in Thailand's "EV Hub of ASEAN" industrial strategy and the principal regional competitor to Indonesia's nickel-anchored EV-cluster bid and Vietnam's Decree 182 investment-support fund.

Resolução Gecex/Camex nº 532, deliberated 10 November 2023 and published in the Diário Oficial da União on 22-23 November 2023, re-establishes Brazilian import duties on battery-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid (HEV) passenger vehicles under NCM chapter 8703 after a multi-year zero-tariff exemption. Tariffs phase up on a progressive schedule beginning January 2024 and reaching a uniform 35 % by July 2026 (BEV: 10 %→18 %→25 %→35 %; PHEV: 12 %→20 %→28 %→35 %; HEV: 15 %→25 %→30 %→35 %). The resolution also opens transitional tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) — roughly USD 660 million of EV/hybrid imports plus USD 39 million of electric trucks may enter at zero duty across the 2024-2026 phase-in window — and is operationalised by Portaria SECEX nº 291/2023, which sets the quota allocation rules. The measure is the first re-tariffing of Brazil's auto sector against Chinese EV/hybrid exports since the Inovar-Auto regime ended in 2017.

On 23 October 2023 Manono Lithium SAS — a joint venture between Zijin Mining's overseas subsidiary Jinxiang Lithium Limited (~55% stake) and the DRC state-owned entity COMINIERE (~35-39%) — secured the exploration licence for the northeast block of the Manono Lithium Project (formerly disputed PR 13359-NE) after Congolese courts returned full title to COMINIERE, which then invited Zijin to jointly develop it. A mining licence was granted in September 2024, and Zijin commissioned initial lithium production at the site in June 2026, targeting approximately 120,000 t/yr LCE in 2026 and up to 270,000–320,000 t/yr at full capacity. Manono NE is now among the world's largest lithium mines under Chinese operational control, deepening China's existing hold over DRC critical-mineral output (CMOC cobalt/copper, CNMC/Sinohydro copper) and establishing the DRC as a top-tier lithium producer inside the Chinese supply-chain sphere.

China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs jointly announced (Announcement No. 33 of 2023) export-licensing controls on graphite products, effective 1 December 2023. The regime covers natural flake graphite and products thereof (including spherical graphite and graphite powder used in lithium-ion battery anodes) as well as high-purity, high-hardness, and high-strength synthetic graphite materials. Exporters must obtain dual-use-item licences from MOFCOM citing end-user and end-use; licences are granted at MOFCOM's discretion. The announcement came three days after the 17 October 2023 BIS advanced-chip-controls expansion, continuing the proportional-response pattern established with Ga/Ge in July.

Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dr. Dele Alake unveiled a Seven-Point Agenda in September 2023 to transform Nigeria's solid-minerals sector — later operationalised as the Energy Transition and Critical Minerals (ETCM) Roadmap framework. The agenda mandates joint ventures between mining multinationals and Nigerian partners, formalises artisanal miners, establishes the Mines Surveillance Task Force, audits all mining licences, builds big-data inventories on seven priority minerals, and authorises six domestic Mineral Processing Centres. In 2024 President Tinubu directed that mining licences be issued only to firms that build in-country processing capacity — effectively banning raw-ore export of lithium and other critical minerals — and the Federal Government revoked 924 dormant licences in April 2024. It is the first Nigerian framework explicitly tying raw-mineral export curbs to downstream-processing mandates, paralleling Indonesia hilirisasi, DRC ARECOMS and Zimbabwe lithium- concentrate regimes.

The European Commission approved a Hungarian horizontal state-aid framework scheme of approximately EUR 2.36 billion (HUF 920 billion equivalent) under Section 2.8 of the EU Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF, adopted 9 March 2023) to support accelerated investments in strategic net-zero sectors: batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers, CCS equipment, key components for each, and the production or recovery of related critical raw materials. Aid is provided in the form of direct grants, tax advantages, and refundable advances; all aid must be granted before 31 December 2025. The scheme is the principal state-aid architecture through which Hungary has channelled Chinese and Korean battery/EV-supply- chain FDI into its emerging Debrecen–Szeged–Göd-Nyíregyháza industrial cluster, and is the parent umbrella under which individual large-scale aid decisions for CATL Debrecen, BYD Szeged, EVE Power Debrecen, Samsung SDI Göd, Sunwoda Nyíregyháza, and EcoPro BM have been or will be assessed.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 establishes a comprehensive EU statutory framework for all battery categories (portable, SLI, LMT, EV, industrial), imposing supply-chain due-diligence obligations for cobalt, lithium, nickel, and natural graphite; mandatory recycled-content thresholds; carbon-footprint declarations; a digital battery passport; and ambitious collection and recycling-efficiency targets, with rolling application dates running from February 2024 through August 2036. It repeals Battery Directive 2006/66/EC and applies to every economic operator placing batteries on the EU market, binding every EV, consumer-electronics, and stationary-storage supply chain that relies on DRC cobalt, Australian/Chilean lithium, Indonesian/Philippine nickel, and Chinese/Mozambican graphite.

Norway's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (NFD) published the national mineral strategy on 21 June 2023, establishing a comprehensive framework to develop domestic critical-mineral resources sustainably while anchoring Norway's role in EU and allied supply chains. The strategy introduces a "hurtigspor" (fast-track) permitting procedure for projects of strategic significance, coordinates the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU) and Directorate of Mineral Management around critical-raw-material mapping, and signals consideration of a state investment vehicle to secure Norwegian equity stakes in domestic mineral projects. Key mineral resources targeted include the Fen Complex rare-earth deposit (the largest validated EU REE resource), the Engebø rutile/garnet project (Nordic Mining), and the primary aluminium cluster (Hydro).

At its 8th Decision-Making Meeting on 6 June 2023, Namibia's Cabinet approved a prohibition on the export of unprocessed critical minerals — specifically crushed lithium ore, cobalt, manganese, graphite, and rare earth elements — with only small quantities permitted for export upon written ministerial approval. The policy is operationalised through discretionary Ministerial authority under the Minerals (Prospecting and Mining) Act 33 of 1992, with no new statute enacted. The measure is designed to compel domestic beneficiation under Namibia's Mineral Beneficiation Strategy (MBS), capturing refining and processing margin that would otherwise accrue to consuming-country smelters.

Ganfeng Lithium (HKG:1772 / SZE:002460), China's largest lithium producer, has accumulated controlling interests in Argentina's most significant lithium brine operations through a series of transactions since 2019. The key assets are: **Cauchari-Olaroz (Jujuy Province):** Ganfeng holds 46.5% of the project alongside Lithium Americas Corp (53.5%), which commenced commercial production in mid-2023. It is Argentina's largest lithium brine operation, targeting 40,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate. Ganfeng provides offtake for substantially all lithium carbonate produced and has rights to purchase Lithium Americas' share of output at market prices. **Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes (PPG) basin (Salta Province):** Ganfeng agreed in 2024-2025 to consolidate the PPG lithium basin through a new joint venture in which Ganfeng holds 67% and Lithium Argentina (spun off from Lithium Americas) holds 33%. The basin is one of Argentina's largest undeveloped lithium brine resources. The SEC filing confirming this consolidation was published in April 2025. Combined, Ganfeng's Argentine lithium position gives it a structurally significant share of Argentina's battery-grade lithium output and exploration pipeline — positioned within the lithium triangle alongside Chilean and Bolivian deposits but with operational production at Cauchari-Olaroz already running. The investments were financed through a combination of Ganfeng's corporate balance sheet and China Development Bank-linked project finance. Ganfeng has also established its own lithium hydroxide refining capacity in China fed from the Cauchari-Olaroz brine, creating a vertically integrated supply chain from Argentine salar to Chinese battery-grade product.

On 20 April 2023, President Gabriel Boric announced Chile's National Lithium Strategy ("Estrategia Nacional del Litio") in a national broadcast from La Moneda. The strategy mandates state majority participation in projects deemed strategic for the country and creates a state-owned National Lithium Company ("Empresa Nacional del Litio", subject to Congressional approval) covering the full productive cycle from exploration through battery cell assembly and recycling. In the interim, the existing state-owned firms Codelco (copper) and ENAMI take the lead — Codelco for the Atacama salar (where SQM and Albemarle operate under existing leases) and ENAMI for the Maricunga salar. The strategy also commits to a network of protected salt flats targeting 30% protection by 2030 and promotes new lower-impact extraction technologies (notably direct lithium extraction, DLE). The full policy document "Estrategia Nacional del Litio — Por Chile y su Gente" was published by the Ministry of Economy on 15 June 2023.

The Korean National Assembly passed an amendment to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act (조세특례제한법, Act No. 19234) on 30 March 2023, promulgated 31 March 2023 and retroactive to 1 January 2023. The amendment enhanced the investment tax credit (ITC) for "national strategic technology" (국가전략기술) semiconductor facility investment: large companies receive a 15% ITC on qualifying capital expenditure (up from 8% in the December 2022 base version); small and medium enterprises receive 25%. An additional temporary 10% incremental credit applies for annual investment exceeding the prior 3-year average (effective 2023-2025). Internationally termed the "K-Chips Act," the measure directly mirrors the US CHIPS Act's 25% advanced- manufacturing investment tax credit. Principal beneficiaries are Samsung Electronics (Samsung Foundry plus DRAM/NAND capex of KRW 20-30 trillion per year) and SK Hynix (memory fabs at Icheon and Cheongju, HBM expansion). In the same session the National Assembly passed companion legislation on secondary-battery (EV) investment with equivalent credit rates. The Korean government projected annual tax savings for the semiconductor sector of approximately KRW 1-2 trillion.

Framework Law n° 03-22 forming Morocco's Investment Charter, promulgated by Dahir n° 1-22-76 of 14 joumada I 1444 (9 December 2022) and published in Bulletin Officiel n° 7152 (12 December 2022), replaces the 1995 Investment Charter (Law 18-95) — the first major overhaul of Morocco's horizontal investment-incentive regime in nearly 30 years. Operationalised by Decree n° 2.23.1 (Government Council 26 January 2023, BO publication February 2023), the regime layers a "main" support mechanism (CAPEX subsidies up to 30% combining sector-priority, regional/territorial, gender, sustainable and value-chain bonuses) and a "specific" mechanism for strategic projects ≥ MAD 2bn (~USD 200m) covering EV/batteries, semiconductors, green hydrogen, defence and pharmaceuticals — providing the legal foundation for Morocco's emergence as Africa's leading EV-battery and automotive industrial hub.

Natural Resources Canada published Canada's Critical Minerals Strategy on 8 December 2022, committing $3.8 billion CAD over eight years (drawn from Budget 2022 and the Fall Economic Statement 2022) to develop Canada's position across the critical-minerals value chain. The strategy designates 31 priority minerals, sets six strategic pillars (data and geoscience, investment and trade, indigenous participation, workforce development, regulatory environment, and sustainability), and explicitly positions Canada as the preferred FTA-partner supplier for the US Inflation Reduction Act's domestic-content requirements under CUSMA/USMCA.

The Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law 117-169), signed by President Biden on 16 August 2022, contains the largest single package of clean-energy and clean-manufacturing subsidies in US history — Congressional Budget Office scored the energy and climate provisions at $369B over 10 years, with subsequent Treasury / academic estimates reaching $800B-$1.2T as uptake exceeded baseline. Core mechanisms include the Section 30D Clean Vehicle credit ($7,500 per qualifying EV), the Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (per-unit credits for domestically-produced battery cells, modules, electrodes, and critical-mineral processing), the Section 48E Clean Electricity Investment Credit, and the Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Credit. Critically, the law contains Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) provisions barring credit eligibility for vehicles or components linked to entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea.

On 20 April 2022 Mexico's Diario Oficial de la Federación published a reform to the Ley Minera (Mining Law) declaring lithium "patrimonio de la Nación" (national patrimony) and of public utility, adding Article 5 Bis to state that no further concessions, licenses, contracts, permits or authorizations for lithium exploration, exploitation, benefit or use will be granted to private parties — reserving the entire value chain exclusively to the State (Articles 1, 9 and 10 also amended). On 23 August 2022 a follow-on decree created "Litio para México" (LitioMx), a decentralized public agency governed by a board of five cabinet secretaries (Energy as chair, plus Finance, Economy, Interior and Environment) and technically supported by the Mexican Geological Service, holding exclusive rights to explore, exploit and commercialize Mexico's lithium deposits. The law was subsequently upheld as constitutional by Mexico's Supreme Court in March 2026 (Acción de Inconstitucionalidad 78/2022, filed separately).

In December 2021 Sinomine Resource Group (SHA:002738), a Chinese specialty mining company, agreed to acquire the Bikita lithium mine in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe, from Bikita Minerals (Pvt) Ltd for USD 180 million. The acquisition was completed in January 2022. Sinomine subsequently committed an additional USD 300 million to expand operations and construct a spodumene concentrate processing plant on-site. Bikita is one of Zimbabwe's largest and oldest lithium operations, with significant spodumene (hard rock) lithium mineralisation. Under Sinomine's ownership it became the most significant lithium producer in Zimbabwe, with concentrate output feeding Chinese battery-grade lithium hydroxide refineries. Zimbabwe holds one of Africa's largest lithium reserves, and the Bikita acquisition was the first of several Chinese acquisitions of Zimbabwean lithium assets in 2021-2023. The acquisition followed Zimbabwe's 2019 ban on raw lithium ore exports (requiring in-country beneficiation) — a policy that created a competitive moat for investors willing to build processing capacity on-site, which Chinese companies with integrated battery supply-chain incentives were better positioned to fund than Western juniors. Sinomine's acquisition was part of a broader Chinese consolidation of Zimbabwean lithium: Huayou Cobalt, Chengxin Lithium, and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt each acquired significant stakes in other Zimbabwean lithium projects over the same period, creating a near-monopoly on Zimbabwe's emerging lithium sector.

The Union Cabinet on 12 May 2021 approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme "National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage" with a Rs 18,100 crore (~USD 2.4 bn) outlay over five years to build 50 GWh of ACC and 5 GWh of "Niche" ACC manufacturing capacity in India. Selected bidders receive PLI cash incentives over five years on sale of cells made in India, gated on minimum 25% domestic value addition rising to 60% by year five and chemistry-agnostic eligibility (Li-ion, Na-ion, solid-state, flow, lead-acid). The MHI awarded the first 50 GWh tranche on 24 March 2022 (Hyundai Global Motors 20 GWh, Ola Electric 20 GWh, Reliance New Energy Solar 5 GWh, Rajesh Exports 5 GWh) under a QCBS global tender; the Hyundai Global Motors award was withdrawn after Hyundai Motor Company disowned the bidder in August 2022, triggering a re-tender of the orphaned capacity that completed in 2025.

On 27 January 2018 the DRC National Assembly adopted Loi n° 18/001, comprehensively amending the foundational 2002 Mining Code (Loi n° 007/2002); President Joseph Kabila promulgated the law on 9 March 2018, published in the Journal Officiel special issue of 28 March 2018, with implementing Décret n° 18/024 (Règlement Minier) following on 8 June 2018. The Code introduces a 10% royalty on minerals designated "strategic" by the Council of Ministers — cobalt, coltan, lithium, and germanium confirmed — up from the 2% standard non-ferrous rate, and raises all standard mining royalties (non-ferrous 2→3.5%, precious metals 2.5→3.5%, precious stones 4→6%). The state's mandatory free-carry interest in new mining projects is doubled from 5% to 10% (Article 71), with a further 10% paid-carry option creating an effective 20% state-participation floor; contract-stability guarantees are simultaneously curtailed from 10 to 5 years (Article 276), explicitly invalidating pre-existing stabilisation clauses. As the foundational statute governing every DRC mining-rights grant, royalty-rate setting, and export-control delegation, the 2018 Code is the parent authority for ARECOMS (established 2019 under its strategic-minerals framework) and the legal basis for both the 2025 cobalt export-ban/quota regime and the 2025 artisanal-processing suspension — making it the mandatory upstream context for the entire filed DRC action cluster.

Bolivia's Ley N° 928, promulgated by President Evo Morales Ayma on 27 April 2017, creates Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) as a 100%-state-owned Empresa Pública Nacional Estratégica (National Strategic Public Enterprise) under the Ministry of Energy (Ministerio de Hidrocarburos y Energía), replacing the National Management of Evaporitic Resources (GNRE) that had operated under COMIBOL. YLB is granted exclusive end-to-end authority over Bolivia's entire evaporitic-resource value chain — from prospecting and extraction at the world's largest identified lithium deposits (Salar de Uyuni, Salar de Coipasa, Pastos Grandes) through industrialisation to commercialisation — with a full-vertical-integration mandate covering production and commercialisation of lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, lithium sulfate, potassium chloride, potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, and downstream battery products. The law simultaneously carves lithium and evaporitic resources out of COMIBOL's general mining remit (amending the 2014 Ley 535 de Minería y Metalurgia) and establishes YLB as the operating authority for every contract, joint-venture, and concession over those resources.

On 9 May 2016 CMOC Group (China Molybdenum Co., HKG:3993 / SHA:603993) signed agreements to acquire Freeport-McMoRan's 56% stake in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for USD 2.65 billion, with additional financing from China Development Bank. A concurrent transaction acquired TF Holdings' 24% stake, bringing CMOC's total to 80% with Gécamines retaining 20%. The transaction closed on 16 November 2016 following regulatory approvals from the DRC Ministry of Mines, the US CFIUS (approved without conditions), and Chinese MOFCOM. Tenke Fungurume is the world's second-largest cobalt mine and fifth-largest copper mine, located in Lualaba Province. At the time of acquisition it produced approximately 16,000 tonnes of cobalt per year (hydroxide) and 180,000 tonnes of copper cathode, representing roughly 20% of global mined cobalt supply. CMOC subsequently expanded production to approximately 50,000 tonnes of cobalt per year by 2023-2024 through the Kisanfu (KFM) discovery development — bringing combined TFM+KFM output to ~115,000 tonnes of cobalt annually, or roughly 38% of DRC cobalt production and approximately 25% of global supply from a single operator. The acquisition was the largest Chinese overseas mining transaction of 2016 and established China's dominant structural position in the cobalt supply chain at the mine level — upstream of both DRC export controls (ARECOMS quota system, filed 2025-02-22) and Chinese processing/re-export controls on battery-grade cobalt compounds. CMOC is simultaneously the world's largest cobalt producer and an entity subject to Chinese government export licensing for the same materials — a concentration structure without precedent in critical minerals. The China Development Bank provided a $2.68 billion loan facility financing the majority of the acquisition, making this an explicit policy-bank-backed strategic asset purchase consistent with NDRC guidelines on overseas critical mineral investment priorities. Sinosure provided political-risk insurance cover on the DRC exposure.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Act (FIPA), Act No. 5559, is the foundational statute governing all inbound foreign direct investment into the Republic of Korea. Enacted 16 September 1998 by the National Assembly under President Kim Dae-jung as part of IMF-conditionality-driven economic-liberalisation reforms following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, it replaced the 1966 Foreign Capital Inducement Act (외자도입법). FIPA establishes the MOTIE-chaired Foreign Investment Committee, the Invest Korea (KOTRA) operational arm, and national-security/public-order restrictions on FDI in sensitive industries under Article 4 — the primary legal authority for all inward-FDI screening, conditional-approval, and prohibition decisions. It also creates the Foreign Investment Zone (FIZ) and Cash Grant Programme incentive architecture that continues to underpin major semiconductor and EV-battery FDI into Korea.

The Defense Production Act of 1950 (Pub. L. 81-774, 64 Stat. 798, codified at 50 U.S.C. §§4501–4568) is the foundational US statute governing wartime and emergency industrial mobilization. Signed by President Truman on 8 September 1950 during the Korean War, the Act empowers the President to compel industrial priority-rated ordering (Title I / DPAS), authorize direct investment in domestic production capacity for critical industries (Title III), and conduct investment security review (Title VII, precursor to CFIUS). Reauthorized approximately 50 times, most recently extended through September 2025 by Pub. L. 115-263 (2018) and further extended under NDAA FY2026; it has been invoked by every Administration since 1950 and has accelerated dramatically since 2020 to target critical-minerals processing, semiconductor manufacturing, battery supply chains, biopharmaceuticals, and energy infrastructure.