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Peru's Congress enacted Ley N° 32560 on 22 March 2026, establishing the country's first legal framework for nuclear electricity generation and the deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The law tasks MINEM, MINAM, and the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy (IPEN) with jointly assessing SMR viability across Peruvian departments, explicitly aiming to use domestic uranium resources as feedstock. Private investment in nuclear power is permitted under a free-competition regime, with mandatory National Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) review and citizen participation required at all project phases.

On 20 March 2026, METI/MOFA (Japan) and the US Departments of State and Energy jointly published the "Japan–United States Critical Minerals Project Cooperation Joint Fact Sheet," identifying five specific upstream critical-mineral projects spanning four continents (Australia, Tanzania, Brazil, UAE, Namibia) to receive structured joint financing through JOGMEC equity and offtake instruments and US DFC/Ex-Im Bank facilities. The document operationalises the October 2025 US-Japan Critical Minerals Framework and the same-day Action Plan, converting policy-framework language into named project commitments covering nickel, lithium, battery-anode graphite, and heavy rare earths. It was released the day following the Takaichi–Trump summit on 19 March 2026 and follows the Critical Minerals Investment Ministerial convened in Tokyo on 14 March 2026.

Kazakhstan's Department of Atomic Energy signed a new Subsoil Use Agreement (SUA) for production at the Akdala uranium deposit, effective 29 March 2026, replacing the expired March 2001 contract. Subsoil rights are held by YUGHK LLP (South Mining and Chemical Company Joint Venture), in which Uranium One (a Rosatom subsidiary) owns 70% and Kazatomprom 30%. The deposit holds approximately 1,500 tonnes of uranium reserves and is expected to operate through 2030, after which the asset is subject to trust management transfer to Kazatomprom as the national company. The renewal was signed expressly to prevent disruption to the technological process and maintain social stability in the region, preserving Rosatom's controlling stake in a single producing Kazakhstani deposit at a time when Kazakhstan is otherwise tightening state control over strategic mineral assets.

On 19 March 2026 the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) announced the selection of 38 German projects across 12 federal Länder for the IPCEI Advanced Semiconductor Technologies (IPCEI AST) — the next Important Project of Common European Interest on semiconductors under EU State Aid Article 107(3)(b) TFEU. The federal commitment is EUR 3 billion drawn from the Sondervermögen Infrastruktur und Klimaneutralität (SVIK), the EUR 100 bn special-purpose vehicle enacted via SVIKG in September 2025. The 38 selected projects span AI chips and chiplets, photonic integrated circuits, advanced manufacturing equipment, sensor technologies, and power electronics, with approximately one-third being startups and SMEs. The measure operationalises Germany's Microelectronics Strategy (October 2025) at the project-funding layer and is the first major SVIK semiconductor-tranche deployment.

On 19 March 2026, USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, METI, and Ministry of Finance jointly released the "United States-Japan Action Plan for Critical Minerals Supply Chain Resilience" — the operational follow-on to the 27 October 2025 US-Japan Framework. The Action Plan formally commits both governments to develop a plurilateral trade initiative in critical minerals "supported by price floors or other measures", to consult on embedding "border-adjusted price floors" in a binding plurilateral agreement, and to identify specific mining/processing/manufacturing projects in the US, Japan, or third countries for prioritised joint financing. It is the first formal US/Japan trade-policy commitment to administered floor-pricing as an instrument of critical-minerals trade governance, and explicitly invites third countries to join the contemplated plurilateral.

India's DGTR issued final findings on 18 March 2026 recommending anti-dumping duties on cryogenic Liquefied Natural Gas Fuel Tanks (LFT) originating in or exported from China PR, after determining that Chinese-origin LFTs were being sold in India at dumped prices causing material injury to domestic manufacturers. The investigation was initiated in December 2024 following a petition by Inox India Ltd. The DGTR found price undercutting and suppression of domestic prices, with the Finance Ministry to issue the implementing customs notification.

Presidential Decreto 0264, signed on 16 March 2026 by President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego with Minister of Commerce Diana Marcela Morales Rojas and Minister of Finance Germán Ávila Plazas, sets a 35% MFN import duty on 14 steel and metal-mechanical subpartidas (bars, profiles, tubes, wire products, barbed wire) covering HS chapters 72-73 imported from countries with which Colombia has no free-trade agreement — primarily China, Russia, Turkey, and India. The measure is valid for one year from its entry into force (15 days after Diario Oficial publication on 16 March 2026), after which the Comité de Asuntos Aduaneros, Arancelario y de Comercio Exterior must review its impact. It partially amends Decreto 1881 de 2021 and operationalises the Política Nacional de Reindustrialización (CONPES 4129), the Petro administration's flagship programme to reduce Colombia's hydrocarbon dependence by building new domestic manufacturing capacity.

South Korea's 13th National Strategic Technology Special Committee (chaired by MSIT) adopted the 2026 Annual Implementation Plan for the First Basic Plan for National Strategic Technology Development (2024–2028), committing KRW 8.6 trillion in 2026 R&D investment — a ~30% YoY increase from KRW 6.5 trillion in 2025 — across 19 NEXT strategic-technology fields encompassing AI, semiconductors, quantum, displays, and secondary batteries, coordinated across 23 ministries. The plan is supplemented by KRW 46.6 trillion in policy finance delivered through Korea Development Bank (KDB), Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF), and Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC), providing the horizontal funding-coordination architecture that operationalises all sector-specific Korean strategic-technology legislative instruments.

On 12 March 2026 Senegal's Primature held a press conference releasing mid-term findings of the National Commission for the Re-evaluation and Renegotiation of Petroleum, Gas, and Mining Contracts, created in August 2024 under Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko's reform programme. The Commission identified a 1,075.9 billion FCFA shortfall in the mining sector — concentrated in unpaid taxes/royalties and unauthorised tax exemptions at ICS (Industries Chimiques du Sénégal) — and announced the termination of four offshore oil-exploration blocks (Djifer Offshore, Kayar Offshore, Saint-Louis Offshore, Rufisque Offshore). Renegotiation of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project, operated by BP with Kosmos Energy and Woodside as partners on the Senegal-Mauritania maritime border, is under active examination; the Primature projects 900 bn FCFA in incremental fiscal revenue 2026-2040 from the contract revision programme. This is Senegal's first major instance of retroactive resource-contract review under the Sonko-Faye government and establishes the legal-political baseline for subsequent contract renegotiations across the 27 mining contracts and remaining hydrocarbon licences under Commission review.

On 12 March 2026 the UK Cabinet Office (Investment Security Unit) published its Government Response to the consultation on reform of the Notifiable Acquisition Regulations (NARs) under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 — the first major substantive overhaul of the NSI mandatory-notification schedules since the regime took effect on 4 January 2022. The reform splits Critical Minerals out of the existing Advanced Materials schedule into a standalone mandatory schedule covering all 34 minerals on the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre's latest criticality assessment; splits Semiconductors into its own standalone schedule (capturing advanced packaging and specific chip-design processes); creates a brand-new Water sector schedule covering the 17 regional water and sewerage undertakers in England and Wales; refocuses Artificial Intelligence on entities that create or materially modify AI systems (excluding routine end-use); and refines Communications, Critical Suppliers to Government, Data Infrastructure, Energy and Suppliers to Emergency Services to reduce low-risk capture. An implementing Statutory Instrument is expected later in 2026; the existing NARs remain in force until that SI takes effect.

On 11 March 2026 USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer initiated parallel Section 301 investigations into the acts, policies, and practices of 16 economies — China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India — relating to structural excess capacity and overproduction in manufacturing sectors. The Federal Register notice (FR doc 2026-05214; dockets USTR-2026-0067 and USTR-2026-0068) was published on 17 March 2026. Covered sectors include aluminum, automobiles, batteries, cement, chemicals, electronics, energy goods, glass, machine tools, machinery, paper, plastics, processed food and beverages, robotics, satellites, semiconductors, ships, solar modules, steel, and transportation equipment. Written comments were due by 15 April 2026; USTR held the public hearing beginning 5 May 2026. This is the most sweeping multi-economy Section 301 initiative since the 2018 China investigation and is structurally distinct from the China-only 2024-05-14 §301 tariff hikes and the 2025-07-15 Brazil §301 investigation.

Guinea's Conseil National de la Transition (CNT) adopted two laws on March 5, 2026 — Loi-Plan L/2026/004/CNT (2026–2040 development plan) and Loi-Programme L/2026/005/CNT (2026–2030 implementation programme) — constituting the first-ever national-plan legislation to encode the Simandou 2040 economic-transformation agenda into law. President Mamadi Doumbouya promulgated both laws by presidential decree on March 20, 2026. The programme targets average GDP growth of 10.3% per year, a projected GDP of ~$152B by 2040 (vs. ~$35B today), 122 megaprojects, 36 structural reforms, and >5 million new jobs, with iron ore, bauxite-to-aluminium, energy, infrastructure, and agriculture as the six transformation pillars.

Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) issued Decreto Supremo N° 002-2026-EM on 5 March 2026, modifying Decreto Supremo N° 017-2018-EM (Reglamento del Mecanismo de Racionamiento de Gas Natural) to establish a binding six-tier priority order for natural gas allocation whenever the rationing mechanism is formally activated during declared energy emergencies. Tiers prioritise residential and regulated commercial consumers at the top, followed by CNG vehicle/public-transport stations, regulated industrial consumers by volume threshold, independent consumers with firm contracts, and interruptible-contract holders at the base. The decree imposes binding obligations on natural-gas producers, pipeline-transport concessionaires, distribution concessionaires, and LNG-plant operators to optimise production and supply during declared emergencies, with Osinergmin empowered to grant temporary regulatory exemptions. The decree was triggered by the 2 March 2026 Megantini district rupture of Transportadora de Gas del Perú's (TGP) main Camisea pipeline, which reduced supply to approximately 9–10% of normal capacity and forced Cálidda (Lima/Callao distributor) to cut gas to 850 industrial users and all thermal power plants.

At the PDAC Convention 2026 in Toronto, Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson announced the Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund (CMSF), a CAD 2 billion vehicle to be operated by Natural Resources Canada that will deploy equity investments, debt, and offtake agreements into Canadian critical-minerals projects and companies. Initial focus covers six of Canada's 34 critical minerals — copper, nickel, lithium, graphite, cobalt, and rare earth elements — with capital expected to begin flowing in spring 2026. The CMSF is part of a broader CAD 3.6 bn PDAC-day announcement package that NRCan estimates will unlock CAD 12.1 bn in mining-project capital across 30+ partnerships, and is structurally modelled on Australia's Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve.

Mozambique's Council of Ministers, at its 6th Ordinary Session on 3 March 2026, approved resolutions establishing two Interministerial Coordination Committees — one for the Development Plan of Area 1 of the Rovuma Block (the TotalEnergies-led Mozambique LNG project, formerly Anadarko) and one for Area 4 of the Rovuma Block (the ExxonMobil/Eni-led Rovuma LNG / Coral South / Coral Norte projects). Both committees are chaired by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and include the ministers of finance, economy, transport and logistics, labour, and land and environment, plus INP, the Tax Authority, and the Bank of Mozambique as technical participants. The mandate is to monitor and ensure the rapid, coordinated government assessment of amendments to the development plans for these projects, which together represent approximately USD 50bn+ in committed capital in Cabo Delgado province and are the primary drivers of Mozambique's projected fiscal revenue stream through 2060+.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched the Gujarat Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy 2026–2031 on 1 March 2026 at the SemiConnect 2026 Conference in Gandhinagar, establishing a five-year ₹1,000 crore Swadeshi Anusandhan Fund (Indigenous Innovation Fund) for domestic R&D across strategic sectors including AI, semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, green energy, and defence. The policy targets state STI expenditure of 1% of GSDP by 2030, creation of 1 lakh skilled research professionals, 1,000+ IP filings annually, and builds three Gujarat Rajya Research and Innovation Cluster (GRRIC) corridors to anchor the state's growing semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.

The Ecuadorian National Assembly approved on 26 February 2026 (vote 77-70, urgent-economic-matter procedure) the Ley Orgánica para el Fortalecimiento de los Sectores Estratégicos de Minería y Energía, the statutory complement to President Daniel Noboa's Decreto Ejecutivo 273 of 31 December 2025. The law was published in the Quinto Suplemento of Registro Oficial on 2 March 2026 with no presidential objection and entered into force the same day. It comprises 28 articles, two general provisions and one transitory provision. The mining title codifies the 3–8% sliding royalty scale and channels 60% of royalty receipts to social investment via decentralised governments (45% provincial / 35% municipal / 20% parochial) — the legislative anchor for the regime introduced by Decree 273. The energy title amends the Ley Orgánica del Servicio Público de Energía Eléctrica to recognise distributed generation, self-supply and autonomous energy districts, and establishes exception-route participation for foreign state-owned enterprises and popular/solidarity-economy organisations alongside private capital. A controversial Galápagos-adjacent provision permitting expedited mining/energy procedures has triggered domestic constitutional challenge.

Ethiopia's Council of Ministers adopted Regulation No. 586/2026 on 23 February 2026, published in the Federal Negarit Gazette No. 17 (Year 31), repealing in its entirety the prior Investment Incentives Regulation No. 517/2022. The regulation replaces the legacy 6-15 year corporate income tax holiday regime with a performance-based reduced-tax-rate architecture: 5% for SEZ developers and recognised startups (up to 10 years), 15% for priority sectors including manufacturing, renewable energy, agro-processing, mining value-addition, and technology (2-6 years by sector), and 25% for companies listing on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange. Incentive eligibility requires a minimum USD 10 million capital investment threshold for most priority sectors, and every beneficiary must sign a binding Performance Agreement with the Ethiopian Investment Commission committing to employment, capital-deployment, production, and export targets before incentives are activated — failure to meet targets results in suspension of all incentives with no grace period.

On 21 February 2026 in New Delhi, during the State Visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, India and Brazil signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Critical Minerals between India's Ministry of Mines and Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy. The MoU establishes a bilateral framework spanning the entire critical-minerals value chain — exploration, mining, processing, recycling, and refining — with explicit focus on rare-earth elements, lithium, nickel, cobalt, niobium, manganese, and other strategic minerals. It was issued alongside a broader Joint Statement targeting USD 30 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 and a ten-year strategic-partnership roadmap covering AI, defence, energy, agriculture, and digital transformation.

President Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation on 20 February 2026 invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2132) to impose a temporary 10% ad-valorem import surcharge on articles imported into the United States, effective 12:01 a.m. EST on 24 February 2026. The proclamation was issued within hours of the US Supreme Court's 20 February 2026 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to set tariffs and vacated the IEEPA-based reciprocal-tariff regime previously in effect. The Section 122 surcharge is statutorily limited to 150 days (terminates 24 July 2026 absent Congressional extension) and the statute caps any such surcharge at 15% ad valorem. Goods qualifying as USMCA originating from Canada or Mexico are exempt; CAFTA-DR textile/apparel articles meeting specified rules of origin are exempt; and a substantial product-exception list excludes critical minerals, energy products, certain pharmaceuticals, electronics, vehicles, aerospace products, specified agricultural goods, and goods already subject to Section 232 duties (the Section 122 duty does not stack on Section 232).

On 19 February 2026 Presidents Trump and Prabowo finalised the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between the United States and Indonesia. The deal locks the US reciprocal tariff on Indonesian imports at 19% (down from the 32% threatened in April 2025), with 0% on a defined list of products and a textile/apparel quota benchmarked to US-cotton/MMF inputs. Indonesia commits to remove export restrictions on all industrial commodities — explicitly including critical minerals across the full value chain — and to grant US investors national treatment in mineral exploration, mining, processing and export. Indonesia also agrees to eliminate tariff barriers on >99% of US-origin goods, while a Freeport-McMoRan MOU extends the Grasberg copper-mine licence (~USD 10bn/yr revenue, world's 2nd largest copper mine) and a parallel commercial package totalling ~USD 33bn (energy USD 15bn, aerospace incl. Boeing USD 13.5bn, agriculture USD 4.5bn) is signed alongside.

On 17 February 2026 Morocco's Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development (MTEDD), via its Direction Générale des Mines, published Notice n°1/DGMH/2026, an "appel public à la concurrence" opening 361 mining exploration/exploitation zones (~13,000 km², roughly 22% of the designated Tafilalet-Figuig mining region) spanning the Drâa-Tafilalet and Oriental regions for gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and barite. Award is multi-criteria (technical, financial, and local socio-economic factors plus health/safety compliance) rather than price-only, reflecting the ESG principles adopted at Morocco's November 2025 International Mining Conference (Marrakech Declaration). Candidacy files are due 15 May 2026, filed with the regional MTEDD directorate in Errachidia (Drâa-Tafilalet blocks) or Oujda (Oriental blocks).

Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) confirmed it has officially cut the 2026 nickel-ore Work Plan and Budget (RKAB) production ceiling to 260–270 million wet metric tonnes (wmt), down from the ~379 million wmt approved for 2025 — a reduction of roughly one-third. Actual 2026 production is targeted at approximately 209–210 million tonnes. Minister Bahlil Lahadalia framed the cut as a supply-demand balancing measure to stabilise nickel prices and conserve reserves; the government first signalled the production control on 23 December 2025, after which world nickel prices rose from roughly US$14,800/t under oversupply to above US$17,000–18,800/t. This is the operative 2026 application of the annual RKAB cycle established by Permen ESDM 17/2025.

At the Indonesia Economic Outlook 2026 forum in Jakarta on 13 February 2026, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia announced the government is "studying the termination of tin exports" as the next phase of Indonesia's hilirisasi (downstream processing) programme, explicitly framing it as the successor to the 2020 nickel ore export ban and the 2023 bauxite export ban. Indonesia is the world's largest refined tin exporter, with Bangka Belitung province accounting for approximately 81.7% of provincial export value (~USD 1.6bn in 2025); no formal decree (Permendag or Kepmen ESDM) has been issued as of June 2026, placing this action in a pre-legislative signalling stage.

France's third Programmation Pluriannuelle de l'Énergie (PPE3), adopted by Décret n° 2026-76 of 12 February 2026 and published in the Journal Officiel on 13 February 2026, sets the framework for public energy policy in metropolitan continental France from 2026 to 2035. The decree codifies a 60% decarbonised-energy-consumption target by 2030 (from 42% in 2023), a 34% electrification share (585 TWh), and a reduction of fossil fuels to 40% of final energy consumption by 2030 (from 58% in 2023). It also formalises the EPR2 new-build programme (6 + 8 optional reactors) within the long-range generation-mix architecture, pairs with the Stratégie Nationale Bas-Carbone (SNBC3) for a net-zero-2050 trajectory, and includes an annex on clean-mobility development (SDMP).

On 12 February 2026, Ambassador Jamieson Greer of the Office of the United States Trade Representative oversaw the signing of the US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) in Washington, DC. The instrument was signed under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO). Headline terms: (i) US IEEPA reciprocal-tariff rate on Taiwan reduced from 20% to 15% and Section 232 auto-parts/timber/lumber rate cut from 25% to 15%; (ii) Taiwan eliminates or reduces 99% of its tariff barriers on US goods, most immediately and the remainder phased over three years; (iii) Taiwan side commits ~USD 85bn in directed purchases through 2029 (USD 44.4bn LNG/crude, USD 15.2bn civil aircraft and engines, USD 25.2bn power equipment); (iv) sectoral chapters covering tariffs, non-tariff barriers, digital trade, economic security, and high-tech supply-chain resilience. Operationally linked to the 15 January 2026 AIT-TECRO Memorandum of Understanding on investment, under which Taiwan pledges USD 250bn in direct Taiwanese-enterprise investment in the US plus USD 250bn in Taiwan-government credit guarantees (USD 500bn total) to fund US-side industrial parks/clusters in advanced semiconductors, energy, and AI manufacturing. Entry into force is conditional on Taiwan's Legislative Yuan completing its review.

On 10 February 2026 in Baku, US Vice President JD Vance and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership — a foundational bilateral instrument covering five cooperation tracks: economy and trade, energy, connectivity and digital development (including AI), security and defense, and critical-minerals transit. The Charter commits both governments to facilitate the transit of critical minerals via the Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor to global markets, and formally recognises the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) as the multi-modal connectivity link between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The instrument builds on the 8 August 2025 MoU signed in Washington during the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Summit that established the Strategic Working Group tasked with drafting the Charter, and marks the first US Vice-Presidential visit to Azerbaijan since Dick Cheney in 2008.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved BRL 148.5 million (~USD 27 million) in financing to Bioo Paraná Holding S.A. to build a biomethane production plant in Toledo, western Paraná. The credit is split between BRL 101.5 million from the Fundo Clima (National Climate Change Fund) and BRL 47.1 million from the Finem line, against a total planned project investment of BRL 196 million. The plant will produce 11 million cubic meters of biomethane per year plus organic-based fertilizer, avoiding an estimated 80,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent annually, and is expected to generate 210 direct and indirect jobs during construction and 90 permanent positions.

On 9 February 2026 USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Bangladesh Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between the United States and Bangladesh in Washington DC — USTR's first ART signing in South Asia, preceding the US-India interim-trade-framework finalisation by three days. The deal locks the US reciprocal tariff on Bangladesh-originating goods at 19% (down from 35% under the April 2025 IEEPA regime) and establishes a zero-percent mechanism for products on the Annex III aligned- partner list (EO 14346, 5 September 2025). Bangladesh commits to significant preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural goods — including chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, medical devices, ICT equipment, energy products, soy, dairy, beef, poultry, tree nuts, and fruit — and to eliminating specified non- tariff barriers including acceptance of US Federal motor-vehicle safety and emissions standards, FDA certificates, and prior marketing authorisations for medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

Brazil's federal innovation-financing agency FINEP (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos), under the MCTI/FNDCT umbrella, published a BRL 500 million (~USD 94.8 million) public call — "Finep Mais Inovação Brasil – Rodada 2 – Transição Energética" — offering non-repayable economic-subsidy grants for private-sector research, development and innovation projects across eight energy-transition technology lines: low-carbon electricity generation, energy storage, low-carbon hydrogen, biofuels, biogas/biomethane, and carbon capture/storage/use. Applicant companies must partner with at least one Scientific, Technological and Innovation Institution (ICT). Proposal submission opened 2026-03-03 and runs continuously until 2026-08-31 17:00 (Brasília time).

Brazil's federal innovation-financing agency FINEP (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos), under the MCTI/FNDCT umbrella, published a BRL 215.2 million (~USD 40.8 million) public call — "Finep Mais Inovação Brasil – Transformação Mineral" — offering non-repayable economic-subsidy grants for private-sector research, development and innovation projects across five thematic lines: critical and strategic minerals for the energy transition, urban mining (recovery of high-value materials from e-waste, batteries, photovoltaic cells and wind-turbine magnets), rare-earth magnets, sustainable mining technologies, and decarbonization of mineral transformation. Applicant companies must partner with a Scientific, Technological and Innovation Institution (ICT). Proposal submission opened 2026-02-06 and, per the official call page, the deadline was later extended from 2026-08-31 to 2026-09-04 18:00 (Brasília time).

NEDO, under METI's Green Innovation Fund, launched the "Next-Generation Tandem Solar Cell Mass Production Technology Demonstration Project," a JPY 153.3 billion (maximum; JPY 123.2 billion committed for the initial three-year phase) programme running fiscal 2025-2030. Two companies — Kaneka Corporation and Aisin Corp — were selected, each holding mass-production plans exceeding 500MW by fiscal 2030 for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. The programme targets conversion efficiency above 30% and a residential generation cost below JPY 12/kWh, aimed at establishing high-yield, high-throughput manufacturing processes ahead of anticipated global scale-up.

On 6 February 2026 South African Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao signed the Framework Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Prosperity (CAEPA) in Pretoria. The framework — non-binding by design — covers four pillars: trade, investment, new-energy, and multilateral cooperation. China commits to provide duty-free access to South African exports under a follow-on Early Harvest Agreement (EHA) scheduled for conclusion by the end of March 2026; a progressive reduction of the 10% Chinese MFN tariff on South African fruit is already underway with full duty-free treatment for fruit scheduled for 1 May 2026. The signing took place against the backdrop of US "reciprocal" tariff pressure on South African exports (30% threatened, ~30,000 jobs at risk) and AGOA preference uncertainty, positioning China as a counterweight market. CAEPA is the first China-Africa bilateral framework structured as a quasi-FTA precursor rather than a FOCAC-style aid/concessional package.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a USD 350 million financing package with Gulf Renewable Energy Company Limited (GRE), a subsidiary of Thailand's Gulf Development Public Company Limited (GULF), to fund three renewable-energy projects: two solar-plus-battery energy storage system (BESS) plants totaling 126 MW with 151 MWh of storage, and a 68 MW solar power plant. ADB provided USD 75 million from its own ordinary capital resources and acted as sole mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, mobilizing a further USD 275 million from a DBS Bank B-loan, parallel loans from DEG, Development Finance Institute Canada and Export Finance Australia, and the ADB-administered Leading Asia's Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP 2). The projects are expected to cut an average of 191,550 tons of CO2 emissions annually, supporting Thailand's 2050 net-zero target.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed aggregate loan agreements totaling THB 16.6 billion (about $511.9 million) with 12 companies indirectly owned by Gulf Waste to Energy Holdings Company Limited (GWTE), a subsidiary of Thailand's Gulf Development Public Company Limited (GULF). ADB provided THB 3.0 billion ($91.9 million) from its own ordinary capital resources and acted as environmental and social coordinator mobilizing a further THB 13.6 billion ($420.0 million) from six parallel lenders. The financing funds development, construction and operation of 12 industrial waste-to-energy power plants totaling 96 MW of contracted capacity in Thailand's central and eastern industrial regions, and is described by ADB as the country's first large-scale industrial WTE project, implementing Thailand's 2023 polluter-pays waste disposal code and 2nd National Action Plan on Waste Management.

On 6 February 2026 Presidents Trump and Modi announced a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement that resets the bilateral tariff posture installed in 2025. Two operative instruments: (i) an executive order signed 6 February eliminating, effective 7 February 2026, the additional 25% IEEPA "Russian-oil" duty on Indian imports imposed by EO 14329 (27 August 2025), conditional on India's commitment to cease buying Russian crude and to expand defence cooperation; and (ii) reduction of the EO 14257 reciprocal-tariff rate on India from 25% to 18% on listed product categories (textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastics and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, certain machinery), to take effect on finalisation of the Interim Agreement. India commits to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of agricultural products (DDGs, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine, spirits) and to purchase >USD 500bn of US energy, ICT, coal, aircraft and aircraft parts, and precious-metals products over five years. The framework also commits the parties to negotiating "robust, ambitious, and mutually beneficial digital trade rules" and to addressing non-tariff barriers in medical devices, ICT import licensing, and food/agricultural standards. US tariff reductions on Indian generic pharmaceuticals, gems, diamonds, aircraft parts, and certain automotive components are flagged as contingent on completion of the full Interim Agreement.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved BRL 280 million (approx. USD 49m) in financing for WEG S.A. to renovate an existing plant and build new capacity for what BNDES describes as Brazil's largest and most modern battery energy-storage-system (BESS) factory, in Itajaí, Santa Catarina. The operation is the first contract under a joint BNDES/Finep public call for strategic-minerals and energy-transition industrial investment ("Mais Inovação"). Announced 4 February 2026; as of the announcement the financing was approved but not yet formally contracted, so this is filed as `stage: proposed` pending contracting.

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan's state export-credit and outbound-investment finance institution, signed a loan agreement on 2026-02-04 providing up to USD 18 million to Hitachi Energy Turkey Elektrik Sanayi A.Ş., the Turkish subsidiary of Hitachi Energy Ltd. MUFG Bank Turkey A.Ş. co-financed a further USD 12 million, bringing the total facility to USD 30 million. The loan funds relocation and expansion of Hitachi Energy's transformer manufacturing plant in Türkiye, intended to raise transformer production capacity amid rising global grid-equipment demand. JBIC cited support for "the international competitiveness of the Japanese power infrastructure industry" and alignment with the Japanese government's policy of promoting global power-network development.

New Zealand's Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF), administered by Grow Regions, approved a loan of up to NZD 35 million to Wellington-based fusion-energy startup OpenStar Technologies. The loan funds a purpose-built research facility for OpenStar's next-generation fusion machine ("Tahi"), intended to scale up its R&D programme, attract further international investment and anchor high-value engineering jobs in New Zealand. The government frames the measure as a strategic bet on fusion as a potential long-term energy-security and economic asset.

On 4 February 2026 USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard announced a U.S.-Mexico Action Plan on Critical Minerals — a first-of-its-kind 60-day bilateral work programme to develop coordinated trade policies and supply-chain mechanisms for critical minerals. The Action Plan tasks both governments with identifying a priority mineral list, exploring border-adjusted price floors as a candidate trade instrument, and consulting on how price floors could be incorporated into a binding plurilateral agreement on trade in critical minerals. It is framed as a confidence- building measure ahead of the USMCA Joint Review (statutory deadline 1 July 2026) and as the Mexico-side template that parallels concurrent USTR engagements with the EU and Japan.

On 4 February 2026, in Washington, DC, Peru and the United States signed an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on critical-mineral supply chains, covering exploration, extraction, processing, and downstream investment. The MoU was one of eleven founding-member bilateral instruments signed simultaneously at the inaugural FORGE (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) Critical Minerals Ministerial hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and USTR Jamieson Greer. Peru is the world's second-largest copper producer (~12% of mined supply), a top-two silver and zinc producer, the leading Latin American gold producer, and a globally significant source of tin, molybdenum, and lead — making it the most strategically important Latin American signatory of the FORGE founding cohort alongside Argentina.

On 4 February 2026, in Washington, DC, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov signed an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding on Securing Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths. The MoU was one of eleven founding-member bilateral instruments signed simultaneously at the inaugural FORGE (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) Critical Minerals Ministerial and supersedes the September 2024 Biden-era US-Uzbekistan critical-minerals MoU. On 18 February 2026, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and EXIM signed Heads of Terms with Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade and the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan establishing a Joint Investment Framework — including a proposed U.S.–Uzbekistan Joint Investment Holding Company — covering critical minerals (exploration, extraction, processing), infrastructure, and energy under a three-year Economic Cooperation Programme valued at up to USD 35bn.

On 3 February 2026 the European Commission opened an in-depth Phase II investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) — the second FSR ex officio case and the first targeting the renewable-energy wind-OEM sector — into whether Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. and its EU affiliates received Chinese foreign subsidies (grants, preferential tax treatment, and state-bank preferential financing) that distort competition for wind-turbine supply and services in the EU internal market. The case (FS.100143) follows the April 2024 preliminary-review opening and subjects Goldwind to an 18-month Phase II investigation with potential redressive-measures decision. The action structurally extends the FSR enforcement perimeter from security equipment (Nuctech, FS.100068) into the green-transition energy-equipment supply chain.

On 3 February 2026 KfW signed, on behalf of the German federal government, the contract to acquire a 25.1% stake in TenneT Germany from Dutch TenneT Holding. The federal government acquired the stake at the same purchase-price valuation as three other institutional co-investors; the acquisition is secured by KfW with the federal government assuming the risk, without funds flowing from the federal budget for the purchase. TenneT Germany operates the country's largest transmission grid (over 14,000 grid km).

On 2 February 2026 Kazatomprom disclosed in its 4Q25 Operations and Trading Update that it had amended multiple Subsoil Use Agreements (SUAs) to reduce the total 2026 licensed annual production ceiling from 32,777 tU to 29,697 tU — a reduction of approximately 3,080 tU (~9.4%). The primary driver is construction and commissioning delays at the Budenovskoye uranium deposit (JV with Uranium Energy Corp / UrAsia, Kazatomprom 51%), preventing the planned ramp-up. Revised 2026 production guidance of 27,500–29,000 tU on a 100% basis sits below the revised licensed ceiling, indicating that actual deliveries will be further constrained; force-majeure notices were issued to long-term offtake counterparties affected by the Budenovskoye shortfall. Kazakhstan accounts for approximately 43% of global primary uranium mine supply, making even a licensed-capacity adjustment a material signal for the global U3O8 and UF6 supply curve.

On 2 February 2026 the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Board approved a Direct Loan of up to USD 10 billion to an independently governed public-private partnership establishing the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve ("Project Vault"), alongside nearly USD 2 billion of private-sector investment for an envelope of approximately USD 12 billion. The reserve will physically stockpile the 60 minerals on the USGS 2025 Critical Minerals List across multiple US storage facilities, with participating original equipment manufacturers (Clarios, GE Vernova, Western Digital, Boeing) committing to specific volumes and grades and trading partners (Hartree Partners, Mercuria Americas, Traxys) handling sourcing. EXIM characterises the transaction as the largest single financing in its 92-year history and the first use of EXIM authority as the financing vehicle for a domestic strategic-minerals stockpile rather than for export-credit insurance abroad.

The Canada Border Services Agency initiated an anti-dumping investigation (Case OCTG6 2026 IN) on 2 February 2026 into oil and gas well casing originating in or exported from Austria, following a complaint by Tenaris Canada. On 4 May 2026 the CBSA issued a preliminary determination finding a dumping margin of 22.6% of export price for Voestalpine Tubulars GmbH & Co KG, the sole named Austrian exporter, but declined to impose provisional duties, assessing that they were "not necessary to prevent injury." The case covers oil and gas well casing under 28 HS tariff classification codes (7304.29.00.12-.29 and 7306.29.00.12-.29). The Canadian International Trade Tribunal's parallel injury inquiry (NQ-2026-002) is due to conclude by 1 September 2026; only a positive injury finding triggers definitive duties.

On 1 February 2026 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled India's Union Budget 2026-27, with Customs Notification No. 02/2026-Customs (dated 1 Feb 2026, effective 2 Feb 2026) implementing the customs-duty package. The notification zero-rates basic customs duty (BCD) on (i) capital goods imported for domestic processing of critical minerals — crushing, beneficiation, refining, chemical-processing, separation/purification, and metallurgical/alloy-making equipment; (ii) capital goods for lithium-ion cell manufacturing for battery energy storage systems (BESS), extending the 2024-25 EV-cell exemption to stationary storage; and (iii) twelve additional critical minerals plus cobalt powder and lithium-ion battery scrap, on top of the 25 critical minerals already exempted in the FY2024-25 budget. In parallel, critical minerals (including monazite / rare-earth concentrate) are migrated from the customs-exemption notification mechanism into the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act at Nil BCD, effective 1 May 2026 — a tariffisation step that locks the rate into primary legislation rather than annually renewable notification. The Budget also commits to dedicated critical-mineral / rare-earth-magnet processing corridors in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Structurally this is the fiscal/tariff layer underneath the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM, Jan 2025) and the National Manufacturing Mission (Feb 2025): NCMM funds capex and overseas asset acquisition (₹34,300 cr), this Budget removes the import-duty drag on the equipment needed to actually run domestic processing lines. It complements the REPM scheme (Nov 2025) for sintered rare-earth magnets and Semicon Mission 2.0 (Feb 2026) on the demand side for refined critical minerals.

On 1 February 2026 India's Ministry of Finance tabled the Finance Bill 2026 alongside Customs Notifications 01/2026 to 03/2026-Customs, restructuring the customs tariff schedule across hundreds of HS lines. Duty rates rise on a range of consumer and finished-goods lines (e.g. umbrellas: 20% to "20% or ₹60/piece, whichever is higher"; potassium hydroxide: 0% to 7.5%; INVAR steel: 5% to 7.5%; radio-trunking parts: 5% to 15%; video-game parts: 5% to 20%) while falling on nuclear and renewable-energy inputs (fuel elements and control/absorber rods for nuclear reactors: 7.5% to 0%; sodium antimonate for solar glass: 7.5% to 0%) and on personal-use dutiable imports under heading 9804 (20% to 10%, effective 1 April 2026). Roughly 80 exemptions previously granted by standalone notification are being written into the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act at unchanged rates, effective 1 May 2026 — converting administratively-reversible exemptions into statutory ones.

NIB, the multilateral development bank owned by the eight Nordic and Baltic member states, signed an 11-year, EUR 21.5 million loan with Solar Park Kvosted ApS, backed by the EU's InvestEU programme, to co-finance a 50 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) addition to the existing 100 MWp Kvosted solar park in Viborg Municipality, Central Jutland. The project is owned by European Energy A/S and converts the site into an integrated hybrid solar-plus-storage asset, one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. NIB's below-market development-bank funding cost functions as a state-adjacent subsidy for Danish renewable-energy infrastructure buildout.