Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2666 actions· ✨ 90 recent

President Félix Tshisekedi mandated a 30-day audit at the 87th Council of Ministers (April 24, 2026) to track DRC mining export revenues from shipment through foreign-currency repatriation to government receipt, targeting copper and cobalt — the country's two dominant export minerals. The directive responds to a systemic gap between record 2025 export volumes (~3.4 Mt copper, ~220 kt cobalt) and proportional state revenue collection, and builds on a prior audit that identified ~$16.8 billion in underreported revenues between 2018 and 2023. Initial findings are due no later than June 15, 2026, and enforcement exposure is concentrated on the major vertically integrated operators — Glencore, CMOC, and Ivanhoe Mines.

The European Commission and the US announced on 24 April 2026 the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a strategic partnership on critical minerals, accompanied by an EU-US Critical Minerals Action Plan. The framework deepens cooperation on supply-chain security across the strategic raw-materials list shared between the two jurisdictions — joint financing, recycling, mutual recognition of strategic- project status under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (filed: 2024-05-23-eu-crma-entry-into-force) and US IRA §30D / §45X frameworks (filed: 2022-08-16-us-inflation-reduction-act). The agreement is positioned as a joint response to non-market practices in third-country supply chains for the named materials.

On April 24, 2026, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added 19 entities and 19 vessels to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List under Executive Order 13902 (Iran petroleum and petrochemical sectors), in furtherance of National Security Presidential Memorandum-2 (NSPM-2) of February 4, 2025. The action is the first OFAC designation of a Chinese independent ("teapot") refinery — Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., Ltd., described as one of Iran's largest single customers for crude oil and petroleum products, having purchased billions of US dollars' worth since at least 2023 from cargoes brokered by Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company (the oil sales arm of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, controlled by the Ministry of Defense / MODAFL). Co-designations span shipping firms and vessels registered in China, Hong Kong, Panama, Marshall Islands, Liberia, and Vietnam. Concurrent with the designations, OFAC issued Iran-related General License V authorising a 30-day wind-down (through May 24, 2026) of transactions involving Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., Ltd. and certain majority-owned entities. Treasury press release SB0472 ("Economic Fury Targets Global Network Fueling Iran's Oil Trade and Shadow Fleet") frames the action as part of the maximum-pressure campaign that has sanctioned over 1,000 Iran-related persons, vessels, and aircraft since February 2025. The April 24 designations directly triggered the first-ever operational use of China's Blocking Rules (MOFCOM Announcement No. 21 of May 2, 2026) and preceded a second OFAC Iran wave on May 1, 2026 (General License W + Strait of Hormuz Sanctions Risk Alert).

On 23 April 2026, the Council of the European Union adopted the 20th package of restrictive measures against Russia, anchored by Council Regulation (EU) 2026/506 amending Regulation 833/2014 (sectoral sanctions) and Council Regulation (EU) 2026/511 amending Regulation 269/2014 (asset-freeze listings — 120 additional individuals and entities, the largest single tranche in two years). The package operationalises and extends the crypto-sanctions architecture introduced in the 19th package and constructs the legal scaffolding for a future full prohibition on maritime services to vessels carrying Russian crude/petroleum products. Headline measures: (i) full sectoral prohibition on transactions with crypto-asset service providers and exchange platforms established in Russia or Belarus, plus designation of the rouble-backed stablecoin RUBx and the digital rouble (CBDC) on Annex LIII — effective 24 May 2026, with EU support for the digital rouble's development banned outright; (ii) 36 new energy-sector listings spanning upstream extraction, refining and transportation; (iii) prohibition on providing technical, financial, brokering and insurance services to Russia-flagged, Russian-certified or Russian-managed LNG tankers and icebreakers effective 25 April 2026, extending to foreign-flagged vessels operating in Russian interests by January 2027 and culminating in a categorical ban on LNG terminal services to Russian-controlled entities on 1 January 2027; (iv) full transaction ban on 20 Russian banks plus four third-country banks listed for SPFS connectivity / sanctions circumvention; (v) 46 newly listed shadow-fleet vessels and new tanker sale-due-diligence obligations on EU shipping operators; (vi) 58 designations of companies and associated individuals in the Russian military-industrial complex including drone developers/manufacturers; (vii) further Annex IV third-country circumvention enabler listings (China, Hong Kong, Turkey, UAE); (viii) parallel measures against Belarus. Entry into force on 24 April 2026 (day following publication in OJ L_202600506), except for measures with explicit deferred application dates.

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.

ITAC's Amended Final Determination Report No. 772 found that fully automatic top-load washing machines (dry-linen capacity 10-17 kg, tariff subheading 8450.20.20) imported from China and Thailand were being dumped, causing material injury to the SACU industry on a complaint from Defy Appliances (Pty) Ltd. The Commission recommended, and SARS implemented via Government Notice 3907 of 2026, definitive anti-dumping duties ranging from 9.39% to 67.11% on the named origins, effective 23 April 2026, moving from a July 2025 provisional determination to a five-year definitive order.

The US Department of Commerce published preliminary affirmative antidumping duty (AD) determinations on April 23, 2026 (Federal Register publication April 28, 2026), finding that crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells (whether or not assembled into modules) from India, Indonesia, and Laos are being sold in the US at less than fair value. Preliminary dumping margins are 123.04% for India, 35.17% for Indonesia, and 22.46% for Laos, with Commerce ordering US Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting AD cash deposits at those rates (107.77% adjusted cash-deposit rate for India; 22.06% for Laos). This runs parallel to, and stacks on top of, the CVD case on the same merchandise and countries (see responds_to), meaning combined AD+CVD cash-deposit burdens on subject imports now exceed 100% for all three origins. Final AD determinations are due July 13, 2026 (India, Indonesia) and September 9, 2026 (Laos).

On 22 April 2026 President José Antonio Kast's administration formally filed the National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Bill in the Chamber of Deputies, codifying the 40-measure package unveiled on 15 April. Core mining-sector provisions include a phased corporate tax cut from 27% to 23% by 2029 (25.5% in 2027, 24% in 2028, 23% from 2029), a 25-year tax-invariability regime for major mining projects shielding investors from future royalty increases and new sector-specific levies, and permitting reform capping environmental review rounds and injunctions to compress >1,000-day timelines. The bill targets unlocking Chile's stalled ~USD 100 bn copper/lithium pipeline and is the most significant restoration of legal certainty for foreign mining investors since the repeal of DL 600.

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 21 April 2026 the European Commission issued a conditional clearance under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR, Regulation 2022/2560), requiring the exclusion of CRRC (China's largest rolling-stock manufacturer) from the Lisbon Metro Violet Line procurement — the first-ever FSR procurement remedy ordering a Chinese supplier exclusion from a specific EU public contract. The Commission found that CRRC received foreign subsidies enabling it to submit an unduly advantageous tender, and as a condition of clearance mandated CRRC's removal from the tender. CRRC was replaced by PESA (Polish rail manufacturer) as the selected bidder. Unlike the 2024 Bulgaria/CRRC case (FSP.100147) where CRRC voluntarily withdrew before a formal decision, the Lisbon case produced the first binding FSR exclusion remedy, establishing mandatory supplier-removal as an available enforcement outcome in EU public procurement.

President Trump issued five Presidential Determinations on 20 April 2026 under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. § 4533), invoking the authority granted by Executive Order 14156 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency, signed 20 January 2025). The five determinations cover: (1) domestic petroleum production, refining, and logistics; (2) large-scale energy and energy-related infrastructure development, manufacturing, and deployment; (3) natural gas transmission, processing, storage, and LNG capacity; (4) coal supply chains and baseload power generation; (5) grid infrastructure, equipment, and supply chain. Each determination authorises the relevant Cabinet Secretary (primarily Energy) to use DPA §303 powers — direct loans, loan guarantees, purchase commitments, and equity investments — to expand domestic capacity in the named category.

ALNAFT officially launched the Algeria Bid Round 2026 on 19 April 2026 in Algiers, offering seven onshore exploration/development perimeters (Est Bordj Omar Driss I, Illizi Centre I, El M'Zaid Nord, El Borma II, El Hadjira III, El Benoud Est, Touggourt Sud) located in the Ouargla, Illizi, Touggourt, and El Bayadh hydrocarbon provinces. The round operates under the Loi n° 19-13 hydrocarbons framework, with the virtual data room (VDR) opening 1 June 2026, bids due 26 November 2026, and contracts to be signed no later than 31 January 2027. The initiative is Algeria's first structured multi-block bid round since the 2019 framework law restructured the upstream contractual and institutional architecture, and is materially significant to EU gas-import diversification given Algeria's approximately 12% share of EU gas supply via the Medgaz and Transmed pipelines plus LNG.

Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 431 of 17 April 2026, signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, sets temporary export quotas on mineral fertilisers from Russia for the six-month period 1 June – 30 November 2026. The aggregate quota is approximately 20 million tonnes, comprising over 8.7 Mt for nitrogen fertilisers (urea, ammonium sulphate, UAN), over 4.2 Mt for ammonium nitrate (a separate sub-quota, suspended from 21 March – 21 April 2026 before this cycle opened), and over 7 Mt for complex fertilisers (NPK, NP, NPS, DAP, MAP). The measure continues the recurring six-month quota architecture in place since late 2021 and is the direct successor to the Dec 2024 – May 2025 cycle fixed under Resolution 1400 of October 2024 (and its subsequent extensions). Exemptions apply to EEU members, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, humanitarian-aid lots, and transit flows.

On 16 April 2026 the Government of Burkina Faso published Decree No. 2026-0287/PF/PRIM/MEF/MEMC in the Journal Officiel du Burkina Faso, authorising SOPAMIB — the state's strategic mining-participation vehicle — to acquire an additional 25% stake in Kiaka SA, the operating entity of West African Resources' (ASX: WAF) Kiaka gold mine, for 70 billion CFA francs (~A$175M / USD $125M). The acquisition raises total state equity from the 15% mandatory free-carry established under the 2024 Mining Code (Loi N°016-2024) to 40%, leaving West African Resources with a 60% operating interest; WAF's Sanbrado and Toega operations are not referenced in the decree. West African Resources confirmed the decree via an ASX regulatory announcement on 21 April 2026, noting that net proceeds will be returned to shareholders as a special dividend and that WAF will work with SOPAMIB to finalise transaction terms by end-2026. This action is structurally distinct from the June 2025 SOPAMIB nationalisation of five Endeavour/Lilium assets (Wahgnion, Boungou, three exploration entities), which involved a full transfer; the Kiaka decree is a compulsory additional equity dilution at a specific operating mine, deepening the Burkinabè junta's resource-nationalism arc under President Capt. Ibrahim Traoré.

The European Commission approved Germany's €3.8 billion industrial electricity price relief scheme (Industriestrompreis, State Aid Case SA.120495) on 16 April 2026 under Section 5 of the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), covering the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028. The scheme compensates companies in 91 electricity- and trade-intensive sectors for electricity costs above a reference wholesale price floor, subject to a binding conditionality requiring reinvestment of at least 50% of aid in decarbonisation assets within 48 months. The Commission approved the German scheme as part of a coordinated three-Member-State decision also covering parallel Bulgarian and Slovenian electricity price relief schemes, with the combined package totalling approximately €4.22 billion. This is the largest individual CISAF disbursement approved to date, at 11.4× the scale of the parallel Bulgaria SA.120414 scheme (€334m), and establishes the Section-5 upper-bound precedent for EU energy-intensive-industry relief.

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 UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) launched the Sovereign AI Fund on 16 April 2026, a £500 million state-anchored equity vehicle chaired by James Wise (Balderton Capital) and designed to operate at venture-capital speed. The Fund makes direct equity investments in UK-headquartered AI startups and bundles allocations of UK AI Research Resource (AIRR) supercomputer capacity alongside investment tickets; an initial cohort of six startups received up to one million GPU hours each and Callosum received the first equity ticket. The Fund is the principal operational implementation of the AI Opportunities Action Plan (CP 1241, January 2025) compute-and-capability pillar and has a dedicated government portal at sovereignai.gov.uk.

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 15 April 2026 Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) published the interim summary "Manufacturing Base Strengthening Report" from the Study Group on Strengthening Manufacturing Base in Light of Geopolitical Risks. The report frames Japan's manufacturing base as the source of national power and proposes shifting economic-security support for "autonomy assurance" from "point" measures to "area"-wide measures — expanding the scope of Specified Critical Materials under the 2022 Economic Security Promotion Act (ESPA) beyond narrowly defined inputs to cover foundational petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene, methanol, synthetic rubber) and process-industry technologies (casting, forging), plus components for emerging technologies (humanoid-robot actuators and sensors, lasers for quantum computing). It is the cornerstone framework document operationalising METI's FY2026 strategic-budget package (~¥3.07 trillion overall envelope; ~¥1.23 trillion specifically for semiconductors and AI, including ¥150bn for Rapidus and ¥387.3bn for AI development) as Japan's coordinated response to deepening Chinese export-control pressure on dual-use items, gallium/germanium, graphite, antimony and heavy rare earths.

President Tokayev signed Decree U2600001233 on 15 April 2026, formally adopting the Strategy for the Development of the Nuclear Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2050. The 30-year framework marks a structural pivot for the world's largest uranium producer (~45% of global mined supply) from a raw-ore export model toward domestic nuclear-energy sovereignty, targeting at least three operational NPPs by 2050 (a fourth under assessment), 5% of national electricity from nuclear by 2035, and 50% combined nuclear and renewables by 2050. The strategy mandates SMR evaluation for regional deployment, a 1% R&D levy on uranium miners' production costs through 2030, and the development of a Kazakh "nuclear cluster" producing high-value fuel-cycle goods and services rather than raw uranium concentrate alone.

On 15 April 2026 Tanzania's Minister for Minerals Hon. Anthony Mavunde announced at a press conference in Dodoma the revocation of 40 idle mineral exploration licences covering 188,163 hectares, following a ministerial assessment that found widespread licence-holder breaches: hoarding of blocks without development activity, non-payment of statutory fees and royalty obligations, failure to meet local-content requirements under GN 563/2025, and neglect of corporate social responsibility obligations to host communities. Revoked areas are to be reallocated under the "Mining for a Brighter Tomorrow" (MBT) framework with explicit preference for small-scale miners, women, youth, and persons with disabilities. A companion default-notice batch issued on 10 April 2026 covered 43 additional licences (40 exploration + 3 medium-scale mining) with 30-day rectification windows before further revocations proceed.

Premier Li Qiang signed State Council Order No. 835 on 13 April 2026 promulgating the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Countering Foreign States' Unlawful Extraterritorial Jurisdiction" (20 articles), effective on the date of publication. The Regulations are the first State Council–level administrative regulation to operationalise the PRC's framework for identifying and countering foreign extraterritorial measures on a horizontal basis, complementing the 2021 Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and the March 2025 AFSL implementation regulations. Article 5 establishes a State Council–led inter-agency coordination mechanism; Article 6 vests the State Council legal affairs department (the Ministry of Justice in practice) with authority to identify "improper" foreign extraterritorial measures and to grant exemptions; Article 8 authorises a new Malicious Entity List targeting foreign organisations and individuals that "promote or participate in implementing" such measures, with nine countermeasure categories spanning visa denial, asset freezing, trade restrictions and fines; Article 11 codifies an exemption-application channel under which Chinese persons facing conflicting legal demands may request approval to comply with foreign measures within a defined scope; Article 14 authorises a private right of action for harmed Chinese citizens and organisations to sue parties enforcing such measures; and Article 18 elevates enforcement beyond administrative penalties by referencing potential criminal liability.

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.

At its 86th ordinary meeting on 10 April 2026 the DRC Council of Ministers adopted two interlocking decrees: Décret 1 creates the Réserve Stratégique de Substances Minérales Stratégiques (Strategic Reserve of Strategic Mineral Substances), a sui generis public-purpose stockpiling instrument covering cobalt, coltan (tantalum-niobium), and germanium; Décret 2 amends ARECOMS' founding decree, expanding its statutory mandate from export-quota regulator to strategic-reserve operator, authorized to constitute physical stocks through compulsory allocation of quota volumes, voluntary producer acquisition, and royalty-in-kind receipts, and to intervene in international markets via timed releases or withholding to stabilise prices. The instrument materially extends Kinshasa's market- intervention reach beyond the cobalt-only quota framework adopted in February 2025, adding coltan and germanium to ARECOMS' jurisdictional perimeter and giving the DRC a price- stabilisation tool comparable to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve and China's State Reserve Bureau base-metals stockpile.

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.

The European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/801 on 9 April 2026, imposing provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of terephthalic acid (PTA, purity ≥99.5% by weight, CAS 100-21-0, CN code ex 2917 36 00 / TARIC 2917 36 00 11) originating in the Republic of Korea and Mexico, published in the OJ on 10 April 2026 and entering into force the following day. Duty rates are exporter-specific: Korean producers face 6.2% (Samnam Petrochemical, Hanwha Impact) to 13.7% (all other), with Taekwang Industrial Co. found not to be dumping (0%); all Mexican exporting producers face a flat 25.7%. The investigation was opened 13 August 2025 following a complaint by EU producer Ineos Aromatics.

On 9 April 2026 the Government of India, exercising powers under section 4(1) of the Special Economic Zones Act 2005, gazetted a 66.166-hectare sector-specific Special Economic Zone at Dholera Special Investment Region, Gujarat for Tata Semiconductor Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd, exclusively for electronic hardware, software and IT/ITES. The notification is the statutory site- enabling instrument for India's first commercial-scale wafer-fab plant — a ~INR 91,000 crore (~USD 11bn) Tata Electronics / PSMC (Powerchip, Taiwan) joint project announced under India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 1.0 in February 2024 — and follows the Letter of Approval issued on 17 March 2026. The same notification designates the SEZ as an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act 1962 with effect from 9 April 2026, enabling on-site customs clearance for fab inputs.

On 8–9 April 2026 the Argentine Cámara de Diputados gave final passage (137–111 with 3 abstentions) to a bill amending Ley 26.639 (the 2010 Régimen de Presupuestos Mínimos para la Preservación de los Glaciares y del Ambiente Periglacial), after the Senate had already approved the reform in February 2026 (40–31 with 1 abstention). The Executive promulgated the law as Ley 27.804 via Decreto 271/2026, published in the Boletín Oficial on 24 April 2026. The reform narrows the federal protection floor by limiting strict protection to glaciers and periglacial geoforms with proven hydrological function, and transfers to provincial governments the authority to define the technical and scientific criteria delimiting protected areas — directly unblocking the "ABCD" copper pipeline (Agua Rica/MARA, Filo del Sol, Josemaría, Los Azules, El Pachón) and adjacent lithium and gold projects whose prior periglacial-buffer encumbrance had stalled an estimated USD 30bn of investment, ~70% in copper / gold / silver.

On 7 April 2026 Ghana's Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources announced that the Damang Mining Lease — previously held by Gold Fields Limited (South Africa) under a 30-year lease that expired in 2025 — had been awarded to Engineers and Planners Co. Ltd (E&P) following a competitive tender. Gold Fields formally handed over the mine to the Government of Ghana on 18 April 2026 after a 12-month government-granted transition extension was not converted into a renewal. This is the first senior gold-mine lease reassignment to an indigenous Ghanaian operator under the Mahama administration's resource-nationalism architecture, establishing a competitive-tender plus indigenous-operator-prioritisation template distinct from outright state nationalisation.

Turkey's Ministry of Trade Export General Directorate issued a circular on 6 April 2026 prohibiting exports of sulphur classified under customs tariff position 2503 (excluding sublimed, precipitated, and colloidal sulphur) effective 7 April 2026 through 30 September 2026. The measure was requested by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in response to a 35–40% surge in domestic sulphur prices and supply shortages triggered by Middle East conflict disruptions to global sulphur flows. Turkey exported approximately 226,500 tonnes of sulphur in 2025, primarily to Egypt, Tanzania, Greece, and Lebanon; Tüpraş's regular 8,000-tonne monthly Mediterranean spot tender was suspended immediately. The ban compounds Russia's concurrent sulphur export ban (Decree No. 350, extended to 30 June 2026), compressing Mediterranean and East African sulphur availability during the global spring–summer fertiliser demand peak.

On 2 April 2026 President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ("Adjusting Imports of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Ingredients into the United States") imposing a 100% ad valorem tariff on imports of patented pharmaceutical products listed in the FDA Orange Book and Purple Book, together with the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and key starting materials used to make them. The base rate takes effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on 31 July 2026 for the 17 manufacturers identified in Annex III, and on 29 September 2026 for all other companies. The proclamation adopts findings of the Section 232 investigation initiated by the Department of Commerce on 14 April 2025 into pharmaceuticals and APIs as a national- security supply-chain risk. The instrument is structured around a multi-tier rate ladder rather than a flat tariff: concessionary 15% rates for EU/Japan/South Korea/Switzerland/Liechtenstein under reciprocal-deal tracks, 10% for the UK with a pathway to 0% under the pending UK pharmaceutical agreement, a "+20%" surcharge for companies operating under a Commerce-approved onshoring plan (until 2 April 2030), and a 0% pathway for companies that combine an approved onshoring plan with an MFN-pricing agreement with HHS (until 20 January 2029). Generics, biosimilars and their ingredients, orphan drugs, nuclear medicines, plasma-derived therapies, fertility treatments, and cell/gene therapies are carved out.

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on 1 April 2026 directing the Cabinet of Ministers to submit within four months the draft "State Program for the Development of Mining and Metallurgy in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2027-2030". The decree mandates Azeraluminium LLC to complete its electrolysis plant and reach 100,000 tonnes/year production capacity by 2030 and to scale aluminum rolling output to 50,000 tonnes/year. It simultaneously transfers all assets of Azerbaijan Aluminium OJSC to Azeraluminium LLC, liquidates the OJSC, and cancels outstanding sector debts and tax liabilities to provide a financial clean slate ahead of the 2027-2030 planning period.

On 1 April 2026, Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and President Emmanuel Macron held a Tokyo summit and signed a bilateral roadmap on cooperation in critical minerals — the first formal Japan-France instrument on supply-chain resilience for rare earths and other critical materials. The centrepiece is joint government support for Caremag, a heavy rare-earths refining project in southern France due to begin operations in late 2026, with backing from Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), Iwatani Corporation, and the French government; the project targets approximately 20% of Japan's future demand for dysprosium and terbium (heavy rare-earth oxides used in EV motors, offshore-wind turbines, and electronic components). The two leaders also launched parallel high-level dialogues on dual-use AI, quantum technologies, space (including debris mitigation), cybersecurity, and a joint declaration on startups and innovation, expressing "serious concerns" over export controls on critical minerals and other materials affecting global supply chains — an explicit reference to China's tightening rare-earths export regime.

The Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration published a Federal Register notice on 10 April 2026 (91 FR 18412, doc 2026-06952) opening the inaugural Call for Proposals for the American AI Exports Program established under Executive Order 14320. Proposals are accepted from 1 April 2026 through 5:00 pm EDT on 30 June 2026 from US industry-led "pre-set" consortia offering full-stack American AI export packages — AI-optimised hardware, data pipelines, AI models and systems, security and cybersecurity measures, and sector-specific applications — for presentation by the US government to foreign public- and private-sector buyers. Designated consortia receive priority US-government advocacy, priority consideration for export-control licence engagement, interagency coordination, and federal-financing referrals (EXIM, DFC), with a 14-business-day completeness review and 60-calendar-day designation decision once a proposal is deemed complete.

Premier Li Qiang signed State Council Order No. 834 on 31 March 2026 promulgating the "Provisions on Industrial Chain and Supply Chain Security" (18 articles), adopted at the State Council executive meeting on 13 March 2026 and effective on the date of publication. The Provisions are the first dedicated PRC administrative regulation on industrial- and supply-chain security and consolidate authorities drawn from the National Security Law, Foreign Relations Law, Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, and Foreign Trade Law into a horizontal defensive framework. They establish a cross-agency coordination mechanism spanning roughly 15 central departments (industrial, security, cyberspace, customs and financial regulators) plus provincial governments; create a security-investigation system; and vest broad countermeasure authority over both foreign states (Article 14 — import/export prohibitions and special levies) and foreign organisations and individuals (Article 15 — import/export bans, China-investment bars, transaction prohibitions, entry bars and revocation of work or residence permits, with extension to effectively-controlled subsidiaries). The Provisions also impose compliance, information-sharing, strategic-reserve and emergency-response obligations on PRC organisations and individuals, and authorise requisition, mandated production and directed transportation in the event of supply-chain disruption.

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%.

Government Resolution No. 350 of 31 March 2026 extended Russia's temporary ban on exports of liquid, granulated, and lump sulphur (HS 2503) through 30 June 2026. The measure was originally introduced by Resolution No. 1470 of 28 October 2025 (effective 1 November 2025) to stabilise raw-material supply for domestic mineral-fertiliser production, and had been successively extended through December 2025 and March 2026 before this latest extension. Exemptions apply to EAEU member states, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia; a concurrent GTA-recorded instrument (state-act 97135) converted certain lower-grade sulphur grades to a licensing regime rather than an outright ban.

On 31 March 2026 the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 96/2026/ND-CP, the principal implementing decree for the Law on Investment 2025 (Law 143/2025/QH15). It takes effect on its signing date and replaces Decree 31/2021/ND-CP, Decree 19/2025/ND-CP and Decree 239/2025/ND-CP — the first comprehensive overhaul of Vietnam's general FDI-licensing framework since 2021. The decree operationalises the new Special Investment Procedure (a registration-and-commitment fast-track in industrial parks, export-processing zones, hi-tech parks, concentrated digital- technology zones, free-trade zones, international financial centres and economic-zone functional areas) and details the list of 16 specially-incentivised sectors covering semiconductor and chip manufacturing, AI, big data, digital technology and high-tech R&D. It also rewrites foreign-investor market-access conditions, document procedures and dispute / grievance mechanisms.

The European Commission approved on 30 March 2026 an Italian state aid scheme (SA.118992) worth up to €6 billion to support domestic production of renewable hydrogen for the transport and industrial sectors, running through 31 December 2029. The scheme operates via two-way contracts for difference (CfD): a strike price is set through competitive bidding, with Italy compensating producers when market prices fall below the strike price and producers reimbursing the state when prices exceed it. SA.118992 is the first sectorally-specialised renewable-hydrogen CISAF approval on the register — distinct from the cleantech- manufacturing cohort (solar/wind/batteries) — and at €6 billion is the largest individual CISAF approval to date, roughly 4× the Bulgaria SA.120414 electricity-price precedent and ~2× Germany SA.121215.

The European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/734 of 26 March 2026, imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of synthetic continuous filament yarns of aliphatic polyamides (nylon yarn) originating in China, following an investigation initiated in July 2025. The duty entered into force on 28 March 2026, with a residual rate of 90.1% of the net free-at-Union-frontier price for non-cooperating exporters and individual company rates ranging from 57.7% to 67.1% for cooperating producers. The measure covers CN codes 5402 31 00, 5402 45 00, 5402 51 00 and 5402 61 00, and importers must post security deposits equal to the provisional duty to release goods for free circulation in the EU pending a definitive determination.

Minister of Trade Regulation No. 5 of 2026, signed on 26 March 2026 and effective 1 April 2026, is the fourth amendment to Permendag 23/2023 on Export Policy and Regulation. It introduces three substantively significant changes: (i) restricts issuance of Export Approval (Persetujuan Ekspor / PE) for ilmenite and rutile concentrate to holders of IUP/IUPK Operasi Produksi mining permits — eliminating the prior Izin Usaha Industri (IUI) industrial pathway — extending Indonesia's hilirisasi vertical-integration doctrine to titanium feedstock; (ii) removes the Eksportir Terdaftar (ET) registered- exporter requirement for industrial tin exports, simplifying the export chain to PE + Laporan Surveyor (LS) only; (iii) mandates electronic and automatic issuance of PE where the integrated INATRADE/SINSW system documentation is complete, digitising the export-licensing chain. Additional changes tighten kratom ET validity to a three-year cap and reassign marine-species transport- document authority from the Ministry of Forestry to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

Minister of Trade Regulation No. 6 of 2026 (Permendag 6/2026), signed 26 March 2026 and effective 1 April 2026, amends the appendix of Permendag 22/2023 on Goods Prohibited for Export, making four substantive changes to Indonesia's prohibited-export list: (i) nitrogen-containing mineral and chemical fertilizers, including urea in all forms, are added to the prohibited-export list as a food-security instrument; (ii) rice is removed from the prohibited-export list, partially reversing a long-standing prohibition; (iii) rough wood, sawn wood, and wood carpentry and building products are added as value-added-export-requirement items, extending Indonesia's hilirisasi downstream-processing doctrine from minerals into the forestry-products sector; and (iv) rattan weaving materials remain prohibited for export. Together with the simultaneously enacted Permendag 5/2026 (fourth amendment to Permendag 23/2023 on export-licensing procedures), this forms Indonesia's most consequential 2026 export-regulation package.

The Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 471st plenary session on 26 March 2026 adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against imports of vertical articulated industrial robots (≥4 axes, 6–600 kg payload capacity) from Japan and China, recommending definitive five-year duties of 17.45–18.64% on Japanese-origin robots (Fanuc 17.45%, Yaskawa 18.64%) and 15.96–19.85% on Chinese-origin robots (KUKA Guangdong, ABB Shanghai, Kawasaki China-branch). Final duties are significantly lower than provisional duties of 21.17–43.6% imposed since November 2025 following an investigation initiated in March 2025 on petition by HD Hyundai Robotics. This is the first trade-remedy case on the register covering the industrial-automation / robotics sector.

Brazil's Comitê-Executivo de Gestão da Câmara de Comércio Exterior (Gecex/Camex) approved Resolução Gecex Nº 876 on 13 April 2026 (DOU 14/04/2026), applying a definitive five-year antidumping duty on imports of polyethylene (PE) resins — NCM 3901.10.30, 3901.20.29, and 3901.40.00 — originating from the United States and Canada. The DECOM investigation, initiated on 14 November 2024 following a Braskem S.A. petition, found positive dumping margins and material injury to the domestic PE-resin industry; provisional duties were imposed under Resolução Gecex Nº 777 (28 August 2025) for six months. Gecex modulated the definitive rates to match provisional-period levels as a public-interest adjustment to limit additional cost pass-through to downstream packaging, agricultural-film, and container manufacturers.

Presidential Decree No. 193, signed by President Vladimir Putin on 25 March 2026 and in force from 1 May 2026, prohibits the export from Russia of refined gold bars (аффинированное золото в слитках) with a total weight exceeding 100 grams by individuals, legal entities, and individual entrepreneurs. Narrow exceptions apply for EAEU-destination and non-EAEU-destination movements through designated international airports (Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Knevichi/Vladivostok) conditional on Federal Assay Office or Federal Border Service permits. The stated rationale — curbing shadow-economy use of bullion as a foreign-currency substitute and closing capital-flight channels — is analytically inseparable from the broader post-2022 Russia counter-sanctions context and the G7 / LBMA delisting of Russian-origin gold.

On 24 March 2026 Mexico's Supreme Court (SCJN), sitting in full Pleno session, unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the 2022 lithium nationalisation law (Decreto reforming the Mining Law and creating LitioMx) when resolving Acción de Inconstitucionalidad 78/2022 brought by a Senate minority (33 % of senators). The court affirmed Articles 1, 5 bis, and 10 of the Mining Law — which reserve all lithium exploration, exploitation, processing, and commercialisation exclusively to the State via the LitioMx decentralised public body and prohibit private concessions entirely — are constitutional, provided implementation follows established procedures requiring technical support and Mexican Geological Service validation. The ruling closes the last formal constitutional challenge to Mexico's state-monopoly lithium regime, confirming a permanent exclusion of private capital from the full lithium value chain.

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.

The Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry (PSEI) Roadmap 2026–2030 was presented at the 4th SEIAC meeting at Malacañang on 23 March 2026 by BOI Executive Director Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa and formally rolled out by DTI in April 2026. The Roadmap targets $110 billion in annual exports by 2030 ($70B semiconductors + $40B electronics, approximately doubling the current ~$50B baseline) via value-chain ascent from assembly-test-packaging through IC design toward front-end wafer fabrication, supported by 128,000-worker upskilling over five years and up to three national laboratories in fabrication, R&D, and talent development.

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.

Germany's Federal Economic Affairs Ministry (Bundesregierung) and BAFA issued Allgemeine Genehmigung Nr. 48 (AGG 48) on 20 March 2026, a time-limited general export licence simplifying the export of specified air-defence and maritime-defence equipment to Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Ukraine, in force until 15 September 2026. Exporters may register retrospectively up to 30 days after first shipment, replacing individual-licence applications for in-scope items and materially compressing per-shipment administrative lead times. The measure is framed as part of Germany's reinforced commitment to supplying defence equipment to allies countering regional threats and Russian aggression.