Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2666 actions· ✨ 89 recent

President Trump signed Executive Order 14257 on 2 April 2025 declaring a national emergency over US trade deficits and imposing a baseline 10% ad-valorem tariff on imports from nearly all trading partners effective 5 April, with higher country-specific "reciprocal" rates effective 9 April. The rate schedule was constructed from a formula tied to bilateral goods-trade deficits and ranged from 10% (UK, Singapore, Brazil, Australia, others) through 20% (EU), 24% (Japan), 25% (Korea), 32% (Taiwan, Indonesia, Switzerland), 34% (China, later raised to 84% then 125% during the April escalation), 46% (Vietnam), 49% (Cambodia). Multiple subsequent EOs paused the country-specific rates for 90 days for non-China destinations on 9 April while keeping the 10% baseline, pending bilateral negotiations.

President Trump signed Proclamation 10908 "Adjusting Imports of Automobiles and Automobile Parts Into the United States" on 26 March 2025, invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose a 25% ad valorem tariff on imports of finished passenger vehicles and light trucks effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on 3 April 2025, with the duty extended to key automobile parts (engines and engine parts, transmissions and powertrain components, electrical components) effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on 3 May 2025. USMCA-origin automobiles receive an interim deduction equal to the value of US-origin content; USMCA-origin parts that satisfy the agreement's rules of origin are temporarily exempt from the parts duty pending a Commerce-administered process. The proclamation is the first Section 232 instrument applied to finished automobiles in US history and the largest-by-trade-volume Section 232 measure of the second Trump administration, covering roughly USD 460 billion of annual auto and auto-parts imports.

Sri Lanka Customs published the National Imports Tariff Guide (NITG) 2025 with operative effect from 1 January 2025, releasing the consolidated preamble and chapter schedules during March 2025. The NITG is Sri Lanka's annual canonical import-regime instrument: it codifies the Customs Import Duty (CID) schedule together with the four principal para-tariffs — Ports and Airports Development Levy (PAL) under Act No. 18 of 2011, Export Development Board (EDB) Cess under Act No. 40 of 1979, Special Commodity Levy (SCL) under Act No. 48 of 2007, and Excise (Special Provisions) Duty — alongside Value Added Tax and the Social Security Contribution Levy (SSCL). For 2025 the NITG carries forward the para-tariff rationalisation programme initiated under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (March 2023 – 2027), with the preamble's exemption lists for PAL, CESS, SCL and VAT serving as the operational rulebook for trading partners and importers across the entire HS schedule.

President Trump signed two Presidential Proclamations on 11 February 2025 reinstating a universal 25% ad-valorem tariff on all steel-mill products and raising the aluminum tariff from 10% to 25% on all imports into the United States, effective 12 March 2025. The proclamations revoked every bilateral exclusion and quota arrangement negotiated by the Biden administration with the EU, UK, Japan, Korea, Australia, and others under the 2021-2022 "alternative measures" frameworks, returning all trading partners to the baseline Section 232 rate without product-level or country-level carve-outs.

President Trump signed three Executive Orders on 1 February 2025 (EO 14193, 14194, 14195) declaring national emergencies under IEEPA over the cross-border flow of fentanyl + illegal migration, and using that authority to impose new tariffs: 25% on imports from Canada (with a reduced 10% rate on Canadian energy products), 25% on imports from Mexico, and an additional 10% on imports from China (separate from pre-existing Section 301 + Section 232 tariffs). The tariffs took effect 4 February 2025. On 3 February 2025 the administration announced a 30-day pause for both Canada and Mexico following bilateral border-enforcement commitments; the China tariff was not paused. China responded 4 February with retaliatory tariffs of 15% on US LNG/coal/farm equipment and additional measures. The package set the precedent for the broader 2 April 2025 "Liberation Day" reciprocal-tariff regime (filed: 2025-04-02-us-trump-reciprocal-tariff-regime).

Decree 38/2025 reduces Argentina's agricultural export duties (retenciones) across all major grains and oilseeds effective January 27, 2025, through June 30, 2025. Soybean duties fall from 33% to 26%, soy products from 31% to 24.5%, wheat/maize/barley/sorghum from 12% to 9.5%, and sunflower seed from 7% to 5.5%; regional-economy commodities including sugar, cotton, and rice receive a permanent zero-duty rate. The measures are designed to accelerate foreign exchange liquidation by improving exporter margins under the Milei administration's macroeconomic stabilisation program, and represent the most market-significant single Argentine agricultural trade action of 2025-Q1.

China's Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement 2025 No. 3 on 9 January 2025, the Final Determination of its Trade and Investment Barrier (TIB) investigation into the European Commission's enforcement practices under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). MOFCOM concluded that EC practices in FSR investigations targeting Chinese enterprises in rail transport, photovoltaics, wind energy, and security-equipment public procurement constitute trade and investment barriers under Article 3 of China's Rules on Trade and Investment Barrier Investigations (对外贸易壁垒调查规则). The determination documents €20.88 billion in estimated economic losses — including €10.18 billion from abandoned bids — and finds de-facto discrimination against Chinese SOEs relative to investors from other jurisdictions. MOFCOM committed to taking "necessary measures" including bilateral consultations, multilateral dispute settlement, or "other appropriate measures" to safeguard Chinese enterprises' legitimate rights and interests.

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.

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.

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.

The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) entered its definitive phase on 1 January 2026 following a transitional reporting period that began October 2023. Under Regulation (EU) 2023/956, importers of goods in six carbon-intensive sectors (iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizers, electricity, and hydrogen) must now purchase CBAM certificates corresponding to embedded carbon emissions. The Q1 2026 certificate price was set at EUR 75.36 per tonne CO2, calculated from EU ETS auction prices. In 2026, the adjustment factor is 2.5%, rising annually to 100% by 2034.

The US Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that producers and exporters of silicon metal from Kazakhstan received countervailable subsidies at a 120.00% economy-wide rate, and instructed US Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting cash deposits from importers at that rate. The countervailing-duty investigation was initiated 2020-07-27 following a June 2020 petition by Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. and Mississippi Silicon LLC, the same domestic petitioners behind the concurrent antidumping cases against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, and Malaysia. 2019 Kazakh silicon metal imports subject to the case were valued at approximately $14.9 million.

Lei nº 9.019, signed 30 March 1995 by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and published in the Diário Oficial da União 31 March 1995, is the foundational Brazilian statute transposing the WTO Antidumping Agreement (ADA) and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement (SCM Agreement) into domestic law following Brazil's signature of the Marrakesh Agreement on 15 April 1994. The law grants DECOM (within SECEX/MDIC) authority to conduct AD/CVD investigations and injury determinations, and CAMEX/GECEX authority to impose provisional and definitive duties. It has been amended by Lei 10.611/2002, Lei 12.270/2010, and Lei 14.609/2023 (anti-circumvention + electronic-investigation procedures), and is the statutory parent of Brazil's entire modern trade-remedy architecture including the filed GECEX implementing instruments on carbon steel, polyester fibres, and optical fibre.

Mexico's Ley de Comercio Exterior (Foreign Trade Act, LCE), published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 27 July 1993 and entering into force 28 July 1993, is the foundational statute governing Mexico's entire external trade regulatory architecture. The LCE establishes the legal authority for the SECOFI/SE-administered antidumping (AD), countervailing duty (CVD), and safeguard investigation regime (Titles V–VII); the TIGIE tariff-schedule and tariff-classification framework; the IMMEX maquila and PROSEC sectoral-promotion programs; rules of origin for USMCA and other preferential trade agreements; and Mexico's export- licensing and strategic-material restriction framework. The LCE has been amended repeatedly through 2021 and remains the overarching parent authority for all Mexican trade-remedy proceedings administered by UPCI (Unidad de Prácticas Comerciales Internacionales) under the Secretaría de Economía.

The Trade Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-618, 88 Stat. 1978), signed into law by President Ford on 3 January 1975 and codified principally at 19 U.S.C. §§ 2101–2497b, is the foundational US statute authorising the executive branch to respond to foreign unfair trade practices and to negotiate trade agreements. Title III (§§ 2411–2420), universally known as "Section 301," empowers the United States Trade Representative to investigate foreign acts, policies, or practices that violate trade agreements or are unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce, and — upon an affirmative finding — to impose tariffs, import restrictions, denial of trade-agreement benefits, or other retaliatory measures. Section 301 is the legal basis for every major US unfair-trade-practice retaliation action filed in the IPTM register, including the 2018–2024 China tariff Lists 1–4 and their 2024 escalation, the 2025 China maritime/shipbuilding investigation, the 2025 Brazil investigation, and the 2026 structural-excess-capacity investigation against sixteen economies.

The Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Pub. L. 87-794, 76 Stat. 872), signed into law by President Kennedy on 11 October 1962 and codified at 19 U.S.C. §§ 1801–1991, is the foundational US statute granting the executive branch broad authority to negotiate tariff reductions and, critically via Section 232 (19 U.S.C. § 1862), to adjust imports of any article found by the Secretary of Commerce to threaten to impair national security. Section 232 empowers the President — on receipt of a Commerce Department affirmative national-security finding — to impose tariffs, quantitative restrictions, or other import-adjustment measures without congressional approval or WTO-required safeguard procedures. From 1962 to the Trump Administration's 2018–2026 wave of Section 232 Proclamations, the authority was invoked primarily for petroleum and machine-tool imports; since 2018 it has become the legal vehicle for national-security tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, copper, timber, critical minerals, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals, with 19+ IPTM-filed implementing instruments citing Pub. L. 87-794 / 19 U.S.C. § 1862 as their statutory parent.

The Tariff Act of 1930 (Pub. L. 71-361, 46 Stat. 590, codified principally at 19 U.S.C. Chapter 4) is the foundational US statute governing customs revenue, tariff classification, and trade-remedy administration, signed by President Hoover on 17 June 1930. The Act's original Smoot-Hawley tariff schedules are widely cited as a contributing factor to the contraction of global trade during the Great Depression, but the statute's enduring significance lies in its creation of (i) the Title VII antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) proceedings framework administered jointly by Commerce ITA and the USITC — the parent authority for every US AD/CVD order in force today — and (ii) Section 337 (19 U.S.C. §1337), the USITC unfair-import and IP-exclusion-order regime under which ~50+ active investigations are conducted annually against semiconductor, biotech, electronics, and other technology imports. Title I's customs-valuation and HTSUS tariff- classification framework underpins all US import-revenue collection; Title VII AD/CVD authority was updated by the GATT Tokyo Round Trade Agreements Act of 1979 and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994 (URAA) to align with WTO Antidumping and Subsidies Agreements.