Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2667 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The French state, via the Agence des participations de l'État (APE), signed a contract on 1 August 2025 to acquire Atos's Advanced Computing division — encompassing the High Performance Computing & Quantum and Business Computing & AI units, commercially known as Bull — for an enterprise value of up to EUR 410 million (later adjusted to up to EUR 404 million after scope changes). The division employs over 2,500 people, mostly in France, generates roughly EUR 800 million in expected 2025 revenue, and operates Europe's only supercomputer manufacturing plant (Angers), including delivery of the EuroHPC JUPITER exascale system. The Ministry of Economy and Finance framed the acquisition as keeping "strategic industrial activities and key technologies" in French hands; the deal closed on 31 March 2026 with the French state as Bull's sole shareholder.

On 28 July 2025 the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued Hufubangui [2025] No. 6, the "Shanghai Embodied Intelligence Industry Development Implementation Plan" (上海市具身智能产业发展实施方案), a dedicated municipal state-aid package to build Shanghai into a global innovation hub for embodied intelligence (humanoid robotics / physical AI). The plan targets an industry scale of CNY 500 billion by 2027, alongside at least 20 core algorithm/technology breakthroughs, four or more high-quality incubators, and "100-100-100" targets for leading enterprises, applications and products. Support is disbursed as tiered direct subsidies capped at CNY 50 million (30% of project cost) for core-technology R&D, CNY 40 million per company per year for computing-power credits, CNY 20 million (50% of cost) for public-platform construction, CNY 10 million (20% of cost) for application-demonstration projects, CNY 5 million per company per year for language-corpus services, CNY 5 million (5% of contract value) for robot sales/rental incentives, CNY 5 million per open-source project, and CNY 1 million per leading enterprise for standards development. Target application sectors are logistics, industrial manufacturing, retail, healthcare/eldercare and domestic services.

On 23 July 2025 the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued Hufu Bangui [2025] No. 5, "Several Measures to Support Enterprises in Strengthening Basic Research and Enhancing New Momentum for High-Quality Development," effective 1 August 2025 through 31 July 2030. The measure tiers one-time subsidies of CNY 2m-10m/year to enterprises based on basic-research investment (CNY 10m-50m, 50m-100m, and 100m+ investment bands), reimburses 50% of shared scientific- equipment usage fees (capped CNY 1m/year), and grants a 100% tax deduction for corporate donations to basic research at nonprofits and universities, with integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence named as priority participating industries.

Hubei Province established a CNY 10 billion (~USD 1.4 billion) "Hubei Humanoid Robot Industry Investment Mother Fund," led by Changjiang Securities under the province's investment-guidance-fund system. The fund closed partnership registration and a CNY 5 billion first tranche, filed with the Asset Management Association of China, with the Hubei provincial guidance fund and Wuhan Industry Fund each committing 20% and Changjiang Securities and Hubei Science & Technology Investment Group each committing 30%. Capital is earmarked for lead humanoid-robot manufacturers and core-technology suppliers (components, brain-computer interfaces, control systems, model algorithms) as the fund's parent vehicle re-deploys a follow-on tranche via a Wuhan Investment Control Group / East Lake High-Tech Zone cooperation agreement signed 26 July 2025.

On 1 July 2025 India's Union Cabinet approved the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme, a six-year, ₹1,00,000 crore (≈USD 11.68 bn) fund to catalyse private-sector investment in research, development and innovation, with ₹20,000 crore allocated for FY2025-26. The scheme finances transformative RDI projects (TRL 4 and above) in strategic and sunrise sectors — deep tech, AI, biotechnology, quantum computing, robotics, space, energy transition and the digital economy — through long-tenor, low-or-nil-interest loans and equity, up to 50% of assessed project cost. Grants and short-term loans are explicitly excluded. Funds flow through a Special Purpose Fund under ANRF (first-level) to second-level fund managers — Alternate Investment Funds, Development Finance Institutions, NBFCs, and focused research bodies including the Technology Development Board (TDB) and BIRAC — which began issuing project calls in February 2026.

Vietnam's government issued Decree No. 160/2025/ND-CP establishing the National Data Development Fund, a non-budget state financial fund capitalised at VND 1 trillion (approx. USD 38.3 million). The fund, administered by the Ministry of Public Security, provides subsidised loans, interest-payment support, and grants — delegated through state-owned commercial and policy banks — to develop and protect data infrastructure and to support AI, big data, cloud computing, blockchain, and IoT projects serving state management and digital-transformation goals, with priority for rural and disadvantaged regions. The decree took effect 1 July 2025.

On 14 June 2025 Vietnam's 15th National Assembly adopted Law No. 71/2025/QH15 on the Digital Technology Industry (DTI Law) at its 9th session. The Law enters into force on 1 January 2026 (with certain provisions phased) and is the world's first standalone primary statute dedicated to the digital technology industry, covering digital-tech production and services, semiconductor manufacturing, artificial-intelligence systems, digital assets (legally recognised as property under the Civil Code), and Concentrated Digital Technology Zones. It codifies sector-specific incentives — multi-year corporate income tax reductions, R&D-cost deductions, preferential public procurement, five-year personal income tax exemption for high-quality digital professionals, five-year visa and work-permit exemptions for foreign experts, and 50% subsidy for SME advanced-technology acquisition — and sets headline targets of 150,000 digital-tech enterprises and USD 74bn digital-economy contribution by 2030/2035 (with USD 43bn / USD 74bn variants in different government summaries).

Japan's first standalone AI statute (Law No. 53) was promulgated 4 June 2025 and became fully effective 1 September 2025, when chapters establishing the Artificial Intelligence Strategic Headquarters — chaired by the Prime Minister with all Cabinet ministers as members — entered into force. The Act adopts an innovation-first, non-punitive framework: it imposes no monetary penalties and relies on cooperative and reputational compliance mechanisms rather than mandatory requirements. An AI Basic Plan, adopted by Cabinet decision on 23 December 2025, translates the statutory mandate into cross-ministry R&D and deployment targets.

On 12 May 2025, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and PIF Chairman Mohammed bin Salman launched HUMAIN, a new PIF-owned company mandated to "operate and invest across the artificial intelligence (AI) value chain as a unified operating company" — spanning next-generation data centers, AI/cloud infrastructure, and a multimodal Arabic large language model (ALLAM). PIF's wholly-owned Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) was folded into HUMAIN at launch. The company is a Vision 2030 vehicle for economic diversification away from oil into a state-controlled AI industrial base, and has since signed multi-billion-dollar infrastructure and chip-supply deals with NVIDIA, AWS, AMD, Cisco, and xAI, and a USD 1.2bn financing package with Saudi's National Infrastructure Fund toward a stated 6.6GW domestic data-center capacity target over the next decade.

On 30 April 2025 the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government issued Yue Fu Ban [2025] No. 11, "Several Measures of Guangdong Province to Further Stimulate Market Entity Vitality and Accelerate the Construction of a Modern Industrial System," effective immediately through 31 December 2027. The package subsidizes bank-loan interest for manufacturing and high-tech enterprises at up to 35% of the loan rate, capped at RMB 2 billion in total annual subsidy volume and RMB 20 million per enterprise per year, alongside an expansion of government-backed financing-guarantee coverage to over RMB 10 billion annually. It also funds foreign-invested R&D centers (up to RMB 1 million, or RMB 5 million for multinational global R&D centers) and offers headquarters-relocation bonuses of up to RMB 8 million, with priority given to semiconductors, AI, robotics, biotechnology, quantum technology, commercial aerospace, and new-energy vehicles.

The Legislative Yuan of Taiwan (ROC) passed amendments to Article 10-1 of the Statute for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例) on third reading on 18 April 2025, promulgated by Presidential Decree on 7 May 2025 and effective for qualifying expenditures incurred from 1 January 2025. The amendment expands the scope of the existing Article 10-1 investment tax credit — previously covering hardware, software, technology, or technical services for smart machinery, 5G network deployment, and cybersecurity — to additionally cover (i) AI products or services and (ii) energy-conservation and carbon-reduction initiatives. The maximum eligible expenditure cap per company per taxable year is doubled from NT$1bn to NT$2bn, and the implementation period is extended through 31 December 2029. Secondary legislation operationalising the amended categories was jointly issued by MOEA and MOF on 27 November 2025 as the "Regulations Governing Tax Credits Claimed for Investments in Smart Machinery, 5G Networks, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Products or Services, and Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction." This is Taiwan's first AI-and-green-tech investment tax credit mechanism in the general-industrial framework, distinct from Article 10-2 (the chip-specific R&D + advanced-equipment credit, "Taiwan Chips Act").

On 9 April 2025 the European Commission adopted Communication COM(2025)165, the AI Continent Action Plan, setting out a five-pillar strategy to make the EU a global AI leader. The pillars are (1) computing infrastructure, (2) data for AI, (3) strategic AI innovation and adoption, (4) AI skills and talent, and (5) regulatory simplification. Headline commitments include mobilising approximately €200bn of public+private investment via the InvestAI initiative announced at the AI Action Summit in Paris (11 February 2025), deploying 13 AI Factories (HPC-anchored shared compute facilities) plus regional antennas, building 5 AI Gigafactories powered by >100,000 advanced AI processors with €20bn earmarked from InvestAI, launching the Apply AI Strategy and Data Union Strategy, and proposing a Cloud and AI Development Act with a public consultation closing 4 June 2025. The one-year progress report (9 April 2026) confirmed 19 AI Factories deployed across EU supercomputers with 13 Antennas providing regional access, and €1bn in Apply AI funding calls earmarked.

The US Bureau of Industry and Security amended the Export Administration Regulations to add 12 entities to the Entity List under the destinations of China (11) and Taiwan (1) via Final Rule 2025-05427 (90 FR 14046), companion to the larger 70-entity rule (2025-05426) published the same day. Targets fall in three clusters: (i) Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence and Beijing Innovation Wisdom Technology — added for acquiring US-origin items in support of China's military modernization, specifically developing large AI models and advanced computing chips for defense; (ii) the Inspur group — Inspur (Beijing) Electronic Information Industry, Inspur Electronic Information Industry, Inspur Electronic Information (Hong Kong), Inspur (HK) Electronics, Inspur Software, and Inspur Taiwan — added as subsidiaries contributing to supercomputers for military end use; and (iii) Henan Dingxin, Nettrix Information Industry, Suma Technology, and Suma-USI Electronics — added for involvement in the development of Chinese exascale supercomputers. License requirements are for all items subject to the EAR; review policy is presumption of denial for the AI cluster and policy of denial for the supercomputer clusters.

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) committed in its 2025 Work Plan to establish a National AI Computing Center via public-private partnership (PPP), with an anchor envelope of KRW 2 trillion rising to KRW 4 trillion through 2030. In July 2025 MSIT executed the first major tranche: KRW 1.46 trillion (approx. USD 1.1 billion) to procure approximately 13,000 high-performance GPUs (NVIDIA B200 and H200) distributed across three domestic cloud operators — Naver Cloud, NHN Cloud, and Kakao. This is Korea's first PPP-structured sovereign-AI compute procurement instrument, structurally distinct from the AI Basic Act (horizontal regulatory framework) and the Semiconductor Special Act (fab investment incentives), as it directly addresses the compute- infrastructure supply constraint for AI model training and national AI research.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14179 on 23 January 2025 (published in the Federal Register on 31 January 2025 as 90 FR 8741, doc 2025-02172). The order revokes Biden-era Executive Order 14110 of 30 October 2023 ("Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence") and directs federal agencies to identify and rescind, revise, or suspend any policies, regulations, memoranda, or guidance documents adopted pursuant to the revoked Biden order. It mandates that the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy develop an AI Action Plan within 180 days to "sustain and enhance America's global AI dominance." The plan was released on 23 July 2025. EO 14179 reframes US AI industrial-policy posture from safety-first regulation to deregulation, infrastructure investment, and export-competitiveness.

Commission Recommendation (EU) 2025/63 of 15 January 2025, published in the Official Journal on 16 January 2025 (CELEX 32025H0063), is the first EU-level instrument operationalising outbound-investment screening. It is a legally non-binding act that asks Member States to designate a Single Contact Point and competent national authorities by 15 March 2025 and to review outbound transactions by EU investors into third countries in three strategic sectors — advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies — covering acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, greenfield investments, asset/IP transfers, and venture-capital instruments completed since 1 January 2021. Member States must submit an interim update by 15 July 2025 and a comprehensive report on review outcomes and identified risks by 30 June 2026, feeding into the EU's broader Economic Security Strategy and the binding outbound-investment legislative instrument the Commission has signalled for 2026-2027.

The UK government published the AI Opportunities Action Plan (CP 1241) on 13 January 2025, authored by Matt Clifford CBE (Chair, ARIA), and simultaneously accepted all 50 recommendations via the government response (CP 1242). The plan establishes binding cross-government commitments including a 20× expansion of UK sovereign AI compute capacity by 2030, designation of AI Growth Zones (Culham, Oxfordshire named first), a National Data Library, and energy-grid prioritisation for AI datacentres. It positions AI compute as critical national infrastructure and represents the most comprehensive national AI industrial-policy roadmap published in the UK to date.

The Bureau of Industry and Security signed an Interim Final Rule on 13 January 2025 (90 FR 4544, published 15 January 2025) introducing the first horizontal export-control regime for advanced AI compute and closed-weight model weights. It revised ECCN 3A090 advanced-IC thresholds, created a new ECCN 4E091 covering closed-weight model weights trained on more than 10^26 operations, and bucketed every destination worldwide into a three-tier country group: Tier 1 (~18 close allies, license-free flows), Tier 2 (the rest of the world, per-country compute caps with National VEU and Universal VEU pathways), Tier 3 (US arms-embargoed destinations including China and Russia under comprehensive denial). It added license exceptions AIA, ACM, and LPP and set staggered compliance dates of 15 May 2025 (general) and 15 January 2026 (data-center / model-weight provisions). The Trump administration's BIS rescinded the rule on 13 May 2025 — two days before the primary compliance date — but it was on the books for four months and shaped allied compliance build-out and the architecture of subsequent US AI export controls.

The Republic of Korea's National Assembly passed the Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Foundation for Trustworthiness ("AI Basic Act") in plenary session on 26 December 2024, consolidating 19 separate AI bills tabled in the 22nd National Assembly. The statute was promulgated on 21 January 2025 and takes effect on 22 January 2026 after a one-year preparation period. Korea becomes the second jurisdiction worldwide — after the EU AI Act — to enact a comprehensive horizontal AI law, and the first in the Asia-Pacific. The Act establishes a risk-tiered regime targeting "high-impact" AI in healthcare, energy, public services, employment decisions, and generative-AI labelling, with extraterritorial reach over foreign providers whose systems affect the Korean market or users (mandatory local representative). It creates an AI Safety Institute, a national AI policy "control tower," and R&D / standardisation programmes under MSIT. Penalties are modest by international comparison — fines up to KRW 30 million plus a one-year grace period before full enforcement.

BIS final rule (FR Doc 2024-19132, 89 FR 68539, published 27 August 2024) expanding the Russia/Belarus-Military End User (MEU) Foreign-Direct Product (FDP) rule under the Export Administration Regulations so that it also applies to transactions involving Entity List entries posing a significant diversion risk to Russia's and Belarus's defense industry or intelligence services — the rule is renamed accordingly. The rule also imposes new export, reexport, and in-country transfer controls on software for the operation of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools destined for Russia or Belarus, and makes corrections eliminating obsolete cross- references introduced by the BIS 25 January 2024 and 18 June 2024 Russia/Belarus final rules. Effective 27 August 2024, except amendatory instruction 11 effective 16 September 2024.

The European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, was published in the Official Journal on 12 July 2024 and entered into force on 1 August 2024. It establishes the world's first horizontal, risk-tiered legal framework for the development, market placement, and use of AI systems — covering prohibited practices, high-risk systems, general-purpose AI models, and minimal-risk applications — with extraterritorial reach over any provider placing an AI system on the EU market or whose output is used in the EU. Penalties reach up to EUR 35 million or 7% of global annual turnover. Application is staged: prohibitions from 2 February 2025, GPAI and governance from 2 August 2025, the bulk of high-risk obligations from 2 August 2026, and product-safety-embedded high-risk systems from 2 August 2027.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding three Kaspersky entities to the Entity List under End-User Review Committee (ERC) determinations — AO Kaspersky Lab (Moscow), OOO Kaspersky Group (Moscow), and Kaspersky Labs Limited (London). All three are designated for cooperation with Russian military and intelligence authorities in support of Russian government cyber-intelligence objectives. Exports, reexports, and in-country transfers of all items subject to the EAR to the three entities now require a BIS licence reviewed under a policy of presumption of denial, with no licence exceptions available. The action is paired with a same-week Commerce ICTS final determination prohibiting Kaspersky cybersecurity and anti-virus software transactions in the United States.

Japan's National Diet enacted the Act on the Protection and Use of Critical Economic Security Information (重要経済安保情報の保護及び活用に関する法律, Act No. 27 of 2024) on 10 May 2024; it was promulgated on 17 May 2024 and came into full operation on 16 May 2025. The law establishes Japan's first peace-time economic-security clearance regime extending to private-sector employees. It designates "Critical Economic Security Information" (CESI) covering threat-intelligence on critical-infrastructure cyber attacks, regulatory-review information on essential infrastructure, and vulnerability data on critical-product supply chains; mandates Cabinet Office "適性評価" (suitability assessment) for cleared personnel; and imposes criminal penalties of up to five years' imprisonment for unauthorised disclosure. The CESI Act complements the 2022 Economic Security Promotion Act (ESPA), closing the information-protection gap and aligning Japan's framework with Five Eyes and EU partners for joint R&D and dual-use cooperation.

Bill C-34, the National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act, received Royal Assent on 22 March 2024 — the first major overhaul of the Investment Canada Act (ICA) national-security review regime since 2009. Non-regulatory provisions came into force on 3 September 2024 by Order Fixing P.C. 2024-826 (SI/TR-32, Canada Gazette Part II). The Act creates a pre-implementation filing obligation for investments in prescribed "sensitive sectors" (final list set by regulation), gives the Minister of Innovation new authority to extend reviews and impose interim conditions or accept undertakings without a Governor-in-Council order, raises monetary penalties, and establishes information-sharing authorities with allied screening regimes. ISED's updated NSR Guidelines (5 March 2025) elevate "economic security" to a standalone factor and align the prescribed-sector list with the Sensitive Technology List (STL).

Bulgaria's National Assembly adopted on 22 February 2024 amendments to the Investment Promotion Act establishing the country's first horizontal foreign direct investment screening mechanism, published in State Gazette No. 20 on 8 March 2024 and entering into force on 12 March 2024. The regime implements EU Regulation 2019/452 by creating an Interdepartmental Screening Council with a 45-day decision window over non-EU investments meeting a 10 % equity stake or €2 million threshold in critical-infrastructure, dual-use, advanced-technology, media, and financial-infrastructure sectors, with no threshold for investments by Russian or Belarusian persons or in oil and petroleum activities. Non-compliance and false declarations carry fines of 5 % of investment value, with a minimum BGN 50,000.

FinCEN published the Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards Final Rule (FR Doc 2023-27973, 88 FR 88732, December 22, 2023; effective February 20, 2024), implementing the access and disclosure provisions of Section 6403(c) of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. The rule defines six categories of authorized recipients permitted to access the FinCEN BOI database — US federal agencies engaged in national security/intelligence/law enforcement, state/local/tribal law enforcement, foreign law enforcement and competent authorities (via intermediary federal agency), financial institutions using BOI for customer due diligence (CDD), federal functional regulators assessing financial-institution CDD compliance, and Treasury officers/employees. Access is to be phased in, beginning with a 2024 pilot for key federal agencies before extending to financial institutions and their supervisors. The rule establishes data-security standards, re-disclosure prohibitions, and oversight mechanisms governing each recipient category.

Ireland's Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 (Act No. 28 of 2023), signed into law on 31 October 2023 and commenced on 6 January 2025 via S.I. No. 651 of 2024, establishes Ireland's first-ever mandatory inbound FDI screening regime. The Act empowers the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to assess, condition, or prohibit transactions by third-country investors (non-EU/EEA/Switzerland) exceeding a EUR 2 million cumulative threshold in targets operating across critical infrastructure, critical technologies, dual-use items, supply of critical inputs, sensitive personal data, and media freedom. A 90-day standstill period applies during Ministerial determination, with criminal sanctions and transaction-voiding powers available for non-compliance.

Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), issued under Royal Decree M/19 (16 September 2021) and substantively amended by Royal Decree M/148 (27 March 2023), entered into force on 14 September 2023 with a one-year transition period that ended on 14 September 2024 — at which point the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) became the binding regulator with full enforcement powers. Alongside the Implementing Regulations and the Regulations on the Transfer of Personal Data Outside the Kingdom (both issued 7 September 2023), SDAIA published in 2024 a set of four pre-approved Standard Contractual Clauses templates (C2C, C2P, P2P, P2C) governing cross-border transfers. The regime establishes consent requirements, DPO appointment, a 72-hour breach notification duty, and prior-clearance / SCC-or-BCR-style conditions on personal-data exports out of Saudi Arabia.

Decree-Law No. 104 of 10 August 2023 ("Decreto Asset" / Omnibus Decree, GU n.186 of 10 Aug 2023, in force 11 Aug 2023) was converted with amendments into Law No. 136 of 9 October 2023 (GU n.236 of 9 Oct 2023). The conversion law materially expanded Italy's "Golden Power" foreign-direct-investment screening regime (DL 21/2012). Two key extensions: (i) intra-group transactions involving entities outside the EU are no longer exempt from the exercise of special powers — only the prior notification carve-out was preserved; (ii) acts, resolutions and operations concerning intellectual-property rights in artificial intelligence, semiconductor production, cybersecurity, aerospace, energy storage, quantum and nuclear technologies, and food production technologies fall within scope when one or more counter-parties sit outside the EU. The Prime Minister also obtained an explicit veto power over transactions creating "exceptional situations" not already covered by sectoral or EU prudential / merger rules, including those touching qualifying holdings in the financial sector.

President Biden signed Executive Order 14105 on 9 August 2023, "Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern", establishing the first dedicated US outbound-investment screening regime. The EO directs Treasury to prohibit or require notification of US investments in Chinese (and Hong Kong, Macau) entities engaged in three categories of technology: (1) semiconductors and microelectronics, (2) quantum information technologies, (3) artificial intelligence systems. After a public-comment process, Treasury issued the final rule (31 CFR Part 850) on 28 October 2024, effective 2 January 2025.

Luxembourg's Chambre des Députés adopted the first-ever national FDI-screening statute on 14 July 2023 (promulgated by the Grand Duke and published in Mémorial A n° 411 on 18 July 2023), entering into force 1 September 2023. The law requires non-EU investors to notify the Ministre de l'Économie before completing direct or indirect acquisitions of ≥25% voting rights / equity in Luxembourg entities engaged in "critical activities" across twelve sectors. The Minister can approve, conditionally approve, or prohibit transactions within a two-month initial screening window, with a further 60-day deep-review phase available; an inter-ministerial Comité de filtrage (Economy + Foreign Affairs + Finance + SREL intelligence service) advises on security and public-order grounds consistent with EU Regulation 2019/452.

The Foreign Investment Reliability Assessment Act (välismaise investori usaldusväärsuse hindamise seadus, VUHS), adopted by the Riigikogu on 25 January 2023 and in force from 1 September 2023, establishes Estonia's first horizontal ex-ante foreign direct-investment screening regime. The Act transposes EU Regulation 2019/452 into Estonian law and designates the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet — TTJA) as the screening authority. It covers acquisitions of qualifying holdings or material influence in target undertakings operating in defence, dual-use, vital services, energy and communications infrastructure, transport, financial services, media, critical raw materials extraction and other strategic sectors. TTJA can prohibit, condition or unwind non-compliant transactions and impose administrative non-compliance levies.

Act No. 497/2022 Coll. on the Screening of Foreign Investments and on amendments to certain acts, adopted by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on 29 November 2022 and promulgated in the Zbierka zákonov on 23 December 2022, established Slovakia's first horizontal ex-ante foreign-direct-investment screening regime. The Act took effect on 1 March 2023, transposing EU Regulation 2019/452 into Slovak law and replacing the prior sector-specific approach under Act No. 45 on critical infrastructure. Screening is administered by the Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic across three procedures (mandatory, voluntary, and ex officio) and covers transactions in defence, dual-use, critical infrastructure, critical raw materials, biotechnology, AI, semiconductors and other emerging technologies. The Ministry can prohibit, condition or unwind non-compliant transactions and impose administrative penalties.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) extended for a second time the temporary unilateral export control on software classified as ECCN 0D521 — "software specially designed for training a Deep Convolutional Neural Network to automate the analysis of geospatial imagery and point clouds" — adding a third year of control through January 6, 2023. The extension was required because COVID-19 prevented the Wassenaar Arrangement from formally convening in 2020 or holding sufficient deliberations in 2021 to consider the US multilateral control proposal submitted in 2020. Only License Exception GOV (§ 740.11(b)(2)(ii)) is available; all other exports require a specific license from BIS.

In a final rule effective December 9, 2021 (FR Doc 2021-26633), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to add Cambodia to Country Group D:5 (US arms-embargoed destinations), consistent with a simultaneous Department of State final rule adding Cambodia to ITAR §126.1. The rule also subjects Cambodia to military end-use (MEU) controls under EAR §744.21 and military-intelligence end-use/end-user (MIEU) controls under EAR §744.22. The stated rationale was deepening Chinese military presence at Ream Naval Base, growing corruption, and human-rights abuses by the Cambodian government.

The Bureau of Industry and Security amended the Export Administration Regulations by adding six Russian technology entities to the Entity List, all designated consistent with Executive Order 14024 on blocking property associated with harmful foreign activities of the Russian government. The designated entities operate in Russia's technology sector and have been determined to support Russian intelligence services, including notable cybersecurity firms and defense-innovation institutions. All items subject to the EAR require a BIS licence for export, reexport, or transfer to these parties, subject to a presumption-of-denial review policy with no licence exceptions available. The rule also corrects an existing FSB entry to reference updated General Licence No. 1B.

The German Federal Government adopted the 17th amendment to the Außenwirtschaftsverordnung (AWV, Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance), published 30 April 2021 and entering into force 1 May 2021, aligning Germany's FDI screening regime with EU Regulation 2019/452. The amendment adds 16 further sectors to the sector-specific mandatory-notification regime, on top of the 11 already covered, bringing the total to 27 -- including AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles/drones, semiconductors, quantum technology, satellite systems, cybersecurity, and critical raw materials. Filing thresholds are voting-rights acquisitions of 10% or more by a non-EU/EFTA investor in the newly added sectors, with subsequent review triggers at 20%, 25%, 40%, 50% and 75%.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) on April 9, 2021 to extend military-intelligence end-use and end-user controls to Burma (Myanmar) and to apply U.S.-person activity prohibitions to Burma's military-intelligence entities — specifically the Office of Chief of Military Security Affairs (OCMSA) and the Directorate of Signal. The rule also corrected technical errors introduced by BIS's January 15, 2021 interim final rule (FR Doc 2021-01879), which had originally established the military-intelligence end-use and end-user control framework covering China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela. The addition of Burma responded directly to the February 1, 2021 SAC military coup and the Burmese military's use of surveillance technology to oppress civil society, restrict internet access, and imprison protesters.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an interim final rule on January 15, 2021 substantially expanding the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) Part 744 end-use and end-user control framework to cover military-intelligence entities in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela. The rule created a new license requirement for exports of ANY EAR-subject item to named military-intelligence end-users — including EAR99-classified items — and separately imposed restrictions on U.S. persons worldwide providing "support" to military-intelligence end-uses or end-users without a BIS licence. It also broadened chemical and biological weapons controls from "will directly assist" to "will support," expanding the reach of §744.4 and §744.3 on WMD-delivery systems. A technical correction published March 17, 2021 (FR Doc 2021-05623) fixed a drafting error in Instruction 9 that would have inadvertently deleted §744.3(a)(3)(i)-(ii), the rocket systems and UAV provisions.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) extended for one year the temporary unilateral export control on software classified as ECCN 0D521 — "software specially designed for training a Deep Convolutional Neural Network to automate the analysis of geospatial imagery and point clouds" — adding a second year of control through January 6, 2022. The extension was required because COVID-19 prevented the Wassenaar Arrangement from formally convening in 2020 to consider the US multilateral control proposal submitted that year. Only License Exception GOV (§ 740.11(b)(2)(ii)) is available; all other exports require a specific licence from BIS.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) establishes procedures under 15 C.F.R. Part 764, Supplement No. 2, for submitting classified national security information ex parte and in camera to courts reviewing enforcement actions taken under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Implementing the judicial-review provision of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA § 1702(d)(4)), the rule enables BIS to present classified evidence to a reviewing court without public disclosure, protecting sensitive intelligence sources and methods while preserving respondents' due-process rights. The rule applies to any EAR enforcement action subject to judicial review and was effective upon publication.

The Investitionskontrollgesetz (InvKG, "Investment Control Act") is Austria's horizontal, statutory FDI screening regime. Published as Article 1 of the Federal Law BGBl. I Nr. 87/2020 on 24 July 2020 and entering into force on 25 July 2020, the Act replaced the previous narrow §§25a–25e Außenwirtschaftsgesetz 2011 (Foreign Trade Act) regime — under which fewer than 10 permits were issued from 2013 to mid-2020 — and transposes EU Regulation 2019/452 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union. The InvKG introduces mandatory ex-ante notification and approval of non-EU / non-EEA / non-Swiss acquisitions where the acquirer crosses any of the 10% / 25% / 50% voting-rights thresholds in an Austrian target operating in the critical sectors listed in Annex Part 1 (especially sensitive: defence, energy / water / telecoms critical infrastructure, dual-use technology, cybersecurity, AI, quantum technology, robotics, semiconductors, biotech, health, vaccines) and 25% / 50% in the sectors listed in Annex Part 2 (broader, including media, food-security, electronic communications infrastructure, financial infrastructure). Administered by the Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Wirtschaft (BMAW), with case decisions taken in coordination with the Komitee für Investitionskontrolle (inter-ministerial Investment Control Committee) and, where the case is escalated to the EU cooperation mechanism, the Commission and EU peer Member States. The InvKG is Austria's functional peer of US CFIUS / FIRRMA, UK NSI Act 2021, Germany AWG §§55–62, France Décret 2014-479 / R. 151-1 et seq., Italy Golden Power Decree, Netherlands Wet Vifo, Denmark investeringsscreeningsloven, and Belgium ISC. Sunset clause: originally limited to 30 June 2022 under §17(2) InvKG; permanently extended by BGBl. I Nr. 80/2022 of 14 July 2022.