Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2662 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated an anti-dumping investigation on 25 June 2026 into imports of Hot Rolled Flat Products of Alloy or Non-Alloy Steel (width ≤ 2,100 mm, thickness ≤ 25 mm; not clad, plated or coated; stainless steel excluded; HS 7208, 7211, 7225, 7226) originating in or exported from China PR, Japan and Russia, following a petition by domestic producers JSW Steel, JSW Vijayanagar Metallics and Jindal Steel Odisha. DGTR's prima-facie assessment found export prices significantly below normal value, with dumping margins above the de-minimis threshold for all three origins. The period of investigation (POI) is January–December 2025; interested parties have 30 days to register and submit questionnaire responses.

The European Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1373 on June 22, 2026, imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) originating from China, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. The regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 24, 2026. BDO is a chemical intermediate used in engineering plastics (polyurethane, PBT), solvents, and battery electrolyte solvents (gamma-butyrolactone derivative). China is the dominant global BDO producer and the primary source of injurious dumped imports into the EU. The regulation also definitively collects provisional duties previously imposed under Regulation (EU) 2026/270.

On June 17, 2026, BIS announced a $36,184,680 civil penalty settlement with Robert Bosch GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany) — the largest-ever BIS enforcement penalty against a non-US company for Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) violations. Between September 16, 2020 and September 26, 2024, Bosch exported approximately $72.4 million in MEMS sensor products and automotive software from abroad to Huawei Technologies and its Entity List affiliates without the required BIS license. Bosch filed a Voluntary Self-Disclosure and cooperated throughout; the DOJ issued the first-ever NSD declination under its newly established Corporate Enforcement Policy, declining criminal prosecution entirely.

South Africa's Cabinet approved the Industrial Development Strategy 2026 (IDS 2026) at its regular meeting of 3 June 2026 (following a Special Cabinet meeting on 13 May 2026). DTIC published the strategy document on 8 June 2026. IDS 2026 is South Africa's first Industrial Development Strategy to formally integrate critical mineral supply-chain security into the national industrial policy framework. Key provisions: (1) PERMIT-TO-PROCESSING LINKAGE — mining permit allocations in new blocks are conditioned on binding domestic processing commitments for priority commodities; (2) PRIORITY BENEFICIATION SECTORS — chrome, platinum-group metals (PGMs), cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements designated as mandatory value-addition targets; (3) INDUSTRIAL SECURITY CLASSIFICATION — strategic mineral sectors listed alongside steel, automotive, and aerospace as active industrial-policy industries where government takes a direct coordination role; (4) CROSS-DEPARTMENT COORDINATION — DTIC coordinates with DMPR on permit conditions, embedding beneficiation mandates into the licensing regime. The IDS 2026 is the operative implementation instrument for the permit-conditioned beneficiation mandate signalled in the May 2025 Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy; the two documents are functionally complementary but legally distinct — the strategy sets direction, IDS sets implementation obligations.

On 21 May 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 473rd plenary session adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against PVC paste resin (PSR) imports from Germany, France, Norway and Sweden, recommending definitive five-year duties of 25.79–31.55% to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) for formal imposition via customs notification. The case was initiated in July 2025 following a complaint by Hanwha Solutions Corp., and provisional duties of 25.79–42.81% have been in effect since February 2026; the final rates represent a notable reduction from the provisional upper bound. The KTC concluded that PSR dumping from the four European countries caused tangible injury to Korea's domestic chemical industry.

On 20 May 2026, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on two Commission regulations implementing the tariff elements of the EU-US Joint Statement of 21 August 2025. The main regulation (COM(2025)0471) eliminates remaining EU customs duties on US industrial goods and grants preferential market access for US seafood and non-sensitive agricultural products. The second regulation (COM(2025)0472) extends the suspension of EU duties on US lobster imports (including processed lobster) retroactively from 1 August 2025. Both regulations sunset on 31 December 2029 and include a Commission safeguard mechanism to suspend concessions if the US fails to meet its Joint Statement commitments.

Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber Executive Committee (GECEX/CAMEX) published Resolução nº 892 on 7 May 2026 (DOU 8 May 2026), modifying the definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of metallic magnesium in crude forms (magnésio metálico em formas brutas, NCM 8104.11.00 and 8104.19.00) originating in China — originally imposed by Resolução GECEX nº 253 of 24 September 2021. The modification converts the duty collection mechanism to a specific tariff fixed in US dollars per kilogram (alíquota específica fixada em dólares estadunidenses por quilograma), based on Parecer SEI nº 258/2026/MDIC, and was deliberated at GECEX's 236th Ordinary Meeting on 30 April 2026. China accounts for approximately 85% of global primary magnesium production; magnesium is designated a critical material under both CRMA Annex I and the USGS Critical Minerals List, serving as an essential input to aluminium alloys for automotive and aerospace lightweighting and to steel desulphurisation. This resolution is a NEW action on the IPTM register — the original 2021 AD measure (GECEX nº 253) was not previously filed — capturing the current in-force duty alteration as the operative instrument.

The Decreto para la Autorización Inmediata de Inversiones, published in Mexico's Diario Oficial de la Federación on 4 May 2026, creates a streamlined investment-authorization mechanism under President Sheinbaum's Plan México strategy. The decree establishes an Investment Committee — composed of the Secretariats of Economía, Hacienda, SEMARNAT, SCT, Energía, and Bienestar — mandated to issue authorization certificates within 30 business days for qualifying projects, replacing the historic 6–18-month multi-agency backlog. Eligibility covers three tiers: projects in designated Polos de Desarrollo Económico para el Bienestar (Welfare Development Poles), investments of MXN 2 billion (≈USD 100M) or more, and projects in strategic sectors (semiconductors, EV batteries, critical minerals, automotive supply chain, medical devices, biotech, aerospace). This is the procedural- acceleration arm of Plan México, structurally distinct from the January 2025 Plan México tax-incentive decree (the fiscal arm), and operationalises the February 2026 Plan México expansion announced by Sheinbaum.

Presidential decree signed by President Claudia Sheinbaum and published in the evening edition of the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 23 April 2026, in force 24 April 2026. The decree amends the Tariff of the Ley de los Impuestos Generales de Importación y de Exportación (LIGIE/TIGIE) and the Decreto que establece diversos Programas de Promoción Sectorial (PROSEC), imposing MFN import duties at 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 30% or 35% ad valorem on 185 tariff fractions covering chemical products, cosmetics, paper and cardboard, textiles, steel, graphic arts, aluminum manufactures, auto parts, electrical material, bicycles, musical instruments, furniture, wind turbines, and trailers. Goods originating in countries with which Mexico has a free-trade agreement remain eligible for preferential treatment, so practical incidence falls on China and other non-FTA suppliers (Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Taiwan, UAE, South Africa). Paired PROSEC modifications add tariff fractions to Article 5 sections I, II.b and XIX (electrical, electronic, automotive and auto-parts industries) at exempt (EX) rates.

On 16 April 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC), the trade-remedy authority operating under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), issued a preliminary affirmative determination in its anti-dumping investigation of Chinese-origin zinc and zinc-alloy coated cold-rolled steel products (thickness <4.75mm; HS 7210/7212 and certain 7225/7226 codes), and recommended provisional anti-dumping duties of 22.34% (Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union), 26.28% (Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel), 33.67% (Winstone Development Ltd), and 25.75% (other Chinese suppliers). The duties remain in force pending a final determination expected around September 2026, with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to operationalise the rates by public notice. The investigation was petition-driven by Korean steelmakers (Dongkuk CM, KG Steel, SeAH CM) in November 2025, responding to a surge in Chinese galvanized cold-rolled imports following the US Section 232 50% steel tariff escalation that redirected Chinese supply to Korea and SE Asia.

On 7 April 2026 the Board (Collegium) of the Eurasian Economic Commission announced a definitive anti-dumping duty of 17.23% on imports of spark plugs originating in China, entering into force 30 calendar days after official publication (implemented 10 May 2026) across the EAEU customs union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan). Annual duty-free import quotas are carved out for Armenia (500,000 units), Belarus (1.8 million units), Kazakhstan (6 million units) and Kyrgyzstan (500,000 units), subject to end-use licensing confirming the units are for motor vehicle manufacture or warranty service. The decision was adopted at the instruction of the EAEU Heads of Government to protect bloc manufacturers.

On 13 March 2026 USTR Jamieson Greer and Ecuador's Minister of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment Luis Alberto Jaramillo signed the United States–Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade in Washington, formalising the framework agreed in November 2025. Ecuador commits to preferential treatment for >90% of its agricultural schedule (including tariff elimination on soybeans, fresh/processed fruit, alcoholic beverages, tea, tree/ground nuts, dairy, beef, pork and poultry), to discontinue applying the Andean Price Band System to US-origin agricultural goods, to accept US remanufactured goods and US motor-vehicle safety/emissions standards, and to commit on digital-trade non-discrimination plus the multilateral moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions. The US in return grants MFN tariff treatment to qualifying Ecuadorian goods that "cannot be grown, mined, or naturally produced" in the US, by 1 August 2026 or entry into force (whichever is later). The Agreement enters into force 30 days after both parties notify completion of domestic procedures.

Decreto No. 17-2026, published in La Gaceta No. 37,081 on 27 February 2026, enacts the Ley de Reactivación Económica y Desarrollo Humano — an omnibus statute establishing extraordinary, exceptional, and temporarily-scoped fiscal and financial measures to stimulate economic activity across Honduras's principal productive sectors: export manufacturing (textiles-apparel, automotive-harnesses), agribusiness, tourism, and micro-small-and-medium enterprises (MIPYMES). The law is administered by SAR (Servicio de Administración de Rentas), SDE (Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico), and SEFIN, and operationalises the post-2024-election Castro-administration economic-reactivation legislative agenda alongside companion Decreto No. 2-2026 (RIT five-period extension, La Gaceta No. 37,065). The statute's explicitly temporary and extraordinary character distinguishes it from permanent-regime instruments; its multi-sector coverage spans Honduras's USD 30bn+ GDP economy.

On 1 May 2026 the trade pillar of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (the "Interim Trade Agreement", iTA) entered provisional application between the European Union and the four Mercosur states — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — following its publication in the EU Official Journal on 27 February 2026 alongside the broader EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA). The iTA covers goods (eliminating duties on more than 90% of bilateral trade over a transition period including immediate cuts on cars, pharmaceuticals, wine and olive oil), services, government procurement at federal and state level, intellectual property (344 EU geographical indications protected), SPS/TBT disciplines, and a sustainability chapter. Mercosur receives tariff-rate quotas on agri-food exports (beef, poultry, sugar, ethanol, honey). Provisional application proceeds pending full ratification of EMPA by the Council, European Parliament and all EU national parliaments and a pending CJEU opinion; only the trade pillar applies provisionally.

Prime Minister Dr Mostafa Madbouly issued Decree No. 503 of 2026 on 25 February 2026, expanding the catalogue of industrial activities eligible for investment incentives under Egypt's Investment Law No. 72/2017 and linking them to Sector A / Sector B geographic classifications. Sector A projects (underserved areas, Upper Egypt, the New Administrative Capital, and economic zones) receive a 50% deduction of investment costs from net taxable profits over seven years, capped at 80% of paid-in capital; Sector B projects (remaining regions) receive a 30% deduction on the same terms. Newly designated priority activities include all automobile and vehicle categories (conventional and electric), electric motors and engines, refrigerator evaporators and compressors, sheet metal for electrical/electronic appliances, pipes and tubes, fruit/vegetable concentrates, and concentrated sulfuric acid. The decree consolidates and supersedes prior incentive decisions issued since 2022, deepening import-substitution and local-content pressure across automotive, electronics, and chemicals supply chains feeding Suez Canal Economic Zone investors and feeder-industry suppliers.

On 24 February 2026 China's Ministry of Commerce simultaneously issued Announcement No. 11 and Announcement No. 12 [2026], activating for the first time the Control List (受控名单) mechanism under Article 28 and the Watch List (关注名单) mechanism under Article 26 of the Dual-Use Export Control Regulations (effective 1 December 2024), designating 40 Japanese entities in total. The Control List (20 entities, led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding Co.) imposes an absolute prohibition on any person or entity worldwide supplying PRC-origin dual-use items to listed parties; the Watch List (20 entities, led by SUBARU Corporation) bars general licensing and requires exporters to file risk assessments and non-military-use commitments. MOFCOM framed both measures as a response to Japan's "remilitarization" trajectory, escalating well beyond the blanket enhanced- review framework established by Announcement No. 1 [2026] in January.

On 23 February 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 461st plenary meeting adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against hot-rolled carbon and alloy steel (HRC) imports from China and Japan, recommending definitive five-year duties of 28.16–33.10% on Chinese-origin HRC and 31.58–33.57% on Japanese-origin HRC to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) for implementation via customs notification. The investigation was initiated in March 2024 on petition by Hyundai Steel, following December 2023 injury allegations, with provisional duties imposed in September 2025. KTC simultaneously recommended acceptance of price-undertaking commitments from three Japanese companies (including JFE Steel and Nippon Steel) and six Chinese companies (including Baosteel), allowing those exporters to avoid the definitive duties by maintaining minimum import-price levels; remaining non-participating exporters face the full duty rates under a five-year WTO ADA Article 11 sunset ending 2031.

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.

Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber Executive Committee (GECEX/CAMEX) imposed a five-year definitive antidumping duty on imports of flat-rolled carbon steel products galvanized (by electrolytic or other process, except corrugated) or aluminium-coated — including aluminium-zinc and other metal-alloy coatings — originating in China, classified under fifteen NCM subheadings spanning 7210.30, 7210.49, 7210.61, 7210.69, 7212.20, 7212.30, 7225.91, 7225.92, 7225.99, and 7226.99. The resolution was adopted at GECEX's 234th ordinary meeting on 13 February 2026 and entered into force upon publication in the Diário Oficial da União (Edição 32) on 18 February 2026. Duties are applied as a specific tariff in USD per metric tonne, with individual rates for cooperating Chinese exporters and a residual rate for non-cooperating producers.

Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber Executive Committee (GECEX/CAMEX) adopted Resolução GECEX nº 854 on 12 February 2026, imposing a five-year definitive antidumping duty on cold-rolled flat carbon steel products originating from China, covering 14 NCM tariff headings under subheadings 7209.xx, 7211.xx, 7225.50.90, and 7226.92.00. The duty is collected as a specific tariff fixed in US dollars per metric tonne, following a Usiminas petition of 23 April 2024 alleging material injury to the domestic flat-steel industry from Chinese dumping. The measure was published in the Diário Oficial da União on 13 February 2026 (Edição 31, Seção 1, Pág. 5) and republished on 18 February 2026 (Edição 32) to correct errors in the Article 1 tariff table.

CEER, Saudi Arabia's PIF-backed electric-vehicle manufacturer, signed 16 commercial localisation agreements worth over SAR 3.7 billion (~USD 986 million) with domestic and international suppliers at the fourth PIF Private Sector Forum in Riyadh on 9 February 2026. The agreements cover components including EV coolants, brake fluids, aerodynamic covers, front-end modules, polymer compounds, automotive glazing, HVAC systems and body-shop equipment, and build on SAR 5.5 billion in agreements signed at the same forum in 2025. CEER states the localisation drive targets sourcing 45% of vehicle materials and components from Saudi companies by 2034.

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.

Decreto No. 2-2026, published in La Gaceta No. 37,065 on 6 February 2026, extends the Honduran Régimen de Importación Temporal (RIT) — a temporary-import regime permitting duty- and VAT-free importation of inputs, machinery and equipment for export-manufacturing operations — by five additional fiscal periods (2026–2030), covering approximately 124 beneficiary companies whose 12-year RIT validity had expired or was about to expire at end-2025. The decree is administered by SDE (Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico), SEFIN/DGEFA, and ADUANAS (Honduran Customs Administration), which issued a system-configuration circular on 10 February 2026 activating recognition of extended validity periods. Honduras's RIT is the principal fiscal-incentive architecture sustaining the country's US$8 bn+ annual maquila-sector exports under CAFTA-DR, and the extension removes an immediate sunset-risk for textile, apparel, automotive-harness and electronics export-manufacturers operating in Honduran free zones.

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 Foreign Trade Chamber Executive Committee (GECEX/CAMEX) imposed a five-year definitive antidumping duty on imports of pre-painted flat-rolled carbon steel products (coated on one or both faces with paint or varnish, supplied in coils, rolls or sheets; commonly called "aço pré-pintado") originating in China and India, classified under NCM codes 7210.70.10, 7210.70.20 (width ≥600 mm) and 7212.40.10, 7212.40.21, 7212.40.29 (width <600 mm). The measure was adopted at the 233rd extraordinary GECEX meeting on 30 January 2026 chaired by MDIC Minister Geraldo Alckmin and entered into force upon publication in the Diário Oficial da União (Edição 22, Seção 1, Pág. 1) on 2 February 2026. This is the first definitive AD imposition of 2026 in Brazil's accelerating defensive posture against Chinese and Indian steel overcapacity in downstream processed categories.

On 27 January 2026 the European Union and India announced the conclusion of negotiations on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement at the EU-India summit hosted at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, attended by PM Narendra Modi, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa. The deal — described by both leaders as the "mother of all deals" — covers ~25% of world GDP and ~2 billion people. The EU eliminates duties on 91% of tariff lines (covering 99.3% of bilateral trade by value); India eliminates duties on 86% of lines (covering 96.6% by value). Headline cuts include Indian tariffs on EU wines (150% → 75% at entry into force, falling to 20%), olive oil (45% → 0% over five years) and processed agri-food (up to 50% eliminated); EU tariffs are reduced/eliminated on Indian textiles, leather/footwear, gems and jewelry, marine products, tea, coffee, spices and certain agricultural and steel products. The agreement still requires Council adoption, European Parliament consent and approval by India's Union Council of Ministers; entry into force is expected in early 2027. Companion instruments concluded at the same summit include an EU-India Security and Defence Partnership and a Mobility and Migration Agreement.

On 16 January 2026 the Saudi Council of Ministers, via Cabinet Decision No. 468/1447 (issued 30 December 2025 / 9 Rajab 1447H), published in the Umm Al-Qura Official Gazette four sets of implementing regulations governing the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), Ras Al-Khair, Jazan, and Cloud Computing & IT Special Economic Zones. The regulations entered into force on 16 April 2026 (90 days after gazette publication) and operationalise the SEZ framework first launched by ECZA in April 2023. Each zone has its own standalone framework but they share a common headline tax package: 5% corporate income tax for up to 20 years, zero VAT on intra-SEZ and SEZ-import flows, customs-duty suspension on qualifying imports, withholding-tax exemption on dividends and approved cross-border payments, and exemption from key provisions of the Saudi Companies Law, Commercial Register Law, and Trade Names Law. KAEC focuses on advanced manufacturing, automotive, consumer goods, ICT and pharmaceuticals; Ras Al-Khair targets shipbuilding, offshore rigs and MRO; Jazan covers food processing, metals conversion and logistics for Africa-bound trade; the Cloud Computing SEZ is a virtual zone (data centres can sit anywhere in KSA, headquarters must be in Riyadh) for cloud and AI-compute workloads. The package is the operational implementation layer for the 2024 Investment Law and a core Vision 2030 FDI-attraction instrument.

The UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism issued Directive No. (72) of 2026, implementing a GCC Ministerial Committee decision to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on electric accumulators (including separators), lead-acid, of a kind used for starting piston engines, originating in or exported from China and Malaysia. Chinese producers face duties of 25.8% (three named enterprises/five entities get 25.8%, 50.7%, and 63.7% respectively), a 25.8% rate for non-selected cooperating exporters, and a 74% residual rate for all other Chinese enterprises. Malaysian producers face 43.2% and 68% company-specific rates, with a 77% residual rate for other enterprises. The duties are ad valorem on CIF customs value, took effect 13 January 2026 across the GCC customs union including the UAE, and are valid for a term not exceeding five years.

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published Tebliğ No. 2026/14 ("İthalatta Gözetim Uygulanmasına İlişkin Tebliğ") in the Official Gazette on 31 December 2025 (Sayı 33124, 4th mükerrer), entering into force 30 January 2026 (30 days after publication). It imposes a forward-looking import surveillance regime on motor vehicle safety seat belts under GTİP 8708.21.90.00.00. Whenever the declared unit customs value falls below the Ministry-set reference floor of USD 12/kg (gross weight), import is only permitted with a surveillance certificate ("gözetim belgesi") issued electronically by the Ministry's Import Directorate General, which customs requires at declaration registration. Global Trade Alert lists China, Czechia and Estonia as the principally affected exporting countries.

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published Tebliğ No. 2026/15 ("İthalatta Gözetim Uygulanmasına İlişkin Tebliğ") in the Official Gazette on 31 December 2025 (Sayı 33124, 4th mükerrer), entering into force 30 January 2026 (30 days after publication). It imposes a forward-looking import surveillance regime on motor vehicle safety glass — windscreens, rear windows and other automotive safety glazing under GTİP 8708.22. Whenever the declared unit customs value falls below the Ministry-set reference floor of USD 6.5/kg (gross weight), import is only permitted with a surveillance certificate ("gözetim belgesi") issued electronically by the Ministry's Import Directorate General, which customs requires at declaration registration. Global Trade Alert lists Belgium, China and Czechia as the principally affected exporting countries.

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published Tebliğ No. 2026/6 ("İthalatta Gözetim Uygulanmasına İlişkin Tebliğ") in the Official Gazette on 31 December 2025 (Sayı 33124, 4th mükerrer), entering into force 30 January 2026 (30 days after publication). It imposes a forward-looking import surveillance regime on vehicle suspension leaf springs (HS 7320 — springs and leaves for springs, of iron or steel; specifically heading 7320.10). Whenever the declared unit customs value falls below a Ministry-set reference price floor, import is only permitted with a surveillance certificate ("gözetim belgesi") issued electronically by the Ministry's Import Directorate General, referenced at customs declaration. Global Trade Alert lists Belgium, China and Germany as the principally affected exporting countries.

Decree reforming various tariff fractions of the General Import and Export Duties Tariff (TIGIE), published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 29 December 2025 and in force 1 January 2026. The reform, approved by Congress as a statutory amendment to the LIGIE (Chamber of Deputies and Senate, Dec 2025) and signed by President Claudia Sheinbaum, raises MFN import duties to between 5% and 50% ad valorem on 1,463 tariff lines covering more than 20 chapters of the TIGIE, spanning automotive, auto parts, textiles, apparel, footwear, steel, aluminum, plastics, paper, leather, furniture, glass, toys, appliances and cosmetics. The increases apply only to goods originating in countries without a free trade agreement with Mexico — principally China, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, the UAE, and South Africa. The decree formalises at statutory level the September 2024 Sheinbaum executive order placing a 50% duty on finished passenger vehicles from non-FTA states and is framed by the Secretaría de Economía and SHCP as the operational tariff instrument of Plan México (2025-01-21).

The Huadu District Government Office in Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) issued "Measures for Promoting High-Quality Development of New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle Industries" (花府办规〔2025〕11号), effective upon issuance on 31 December 2025 for a two-year term. The package covers R&D-platform grants (up to RMB 100m per enterprise), model-promotion subsidies (up to RMB 50m per model), an L4+ autonomous-vehicle fleet-scale bonus (up to RMB 20m per enterprise), core-component investment rebates (1% of qualifying investment ≥RMB 50m, capped at RMB 300m), battery-production scale bonuses (up to RMB 60m for 5GWh+ output), at least RMB 200m for a "vehicle-road-cloud" integrated pilot zone (200+ autonomous vehicles, ~2,000 OBU retrofits), per-enterprise autonomous-fleet-operation subsidies (up to RMB 200m for qualifying passenger/cargo fleets), preferential industrial-land pricing (minimum 70% of benchmark rate), and facility-cost subsidies (up to RMB 150m/year for 3-5 years). It is a sub-provincial, district-level instrument implementing national NEV industrial-policy and the 2025-2026 Automobile Industry Stabilization and Growth Work Plan at the local level.

On 26 December 2025, Japan's Cabinet approved the FY2026 (Reiwa 8) national budget, which the Global Trade Alert database logs as including a "Project to Promote the Strengthening of Autonomous Resource Circulation Systems" financial-grant line administered by METI, effective with the fiscal year on 1 April 2026. The line is the continuation of METI's "Decarbonisation Growth-Type Economic Structure Transition Promotion Subsidy (Autonomous Resource Circulation System Strengthening Promotion Project)" (脱炭素成長型経済 構造移行推進対策費補助金（自律型資源循環システム強靱化促進事業）), which funds private-sector investment in recycled-material manufacturing and recovery equipment for rare metals/rare earths, automotive and small-electronics lithium-ion batteries, plastics, and textiles. Japanese budget-press reporting puts the FY2026 allocation at JPY 7.3 billion (73億円), up from JPY 3.0 billion (30億円) in FY2025 -- roughly a 2.4x year-on-year increase. METI opened the call for the executing body (執行団体) on 18 February 2026, with the General Incorporated Association for Low-Carbon Investment Promotion (GIO) again acting as the designated administrator, as it did for the FY2025 round.

The Bank of Thailand and Ministry of Finance, together with the Thai Bankers' Association and Association of International Banks, launched "SMEs Credit Boost," a THB 20 billion (~USD 580 million) new loan-guarantee facility funded through a temporary reduction in commercial banks' 2026 FIDF (Financial Institutions Development Fund) contribution rather than new fiscal spending. The scheme guarantees 15-30% of new bank lending to SMEs and qualifying larger firms in government-prioritised "Reinvent Thailand" sectors, is projected to catalyse roughly THB 100 billion in new credit over 1-2 years, and took effect 2026-01-15.

Brazil's Gecex/Camex approved Resolução Gecex Nº 842 on 23 December 2025 (published in the Diário Oficial da União 24 December 2025, in force 1 January 2026), amending the "Lista de Autopeças Não Produzidas" (Non-Produced Auto Parts List) created by Resolução Gecex Nº 284/2021. The list lets vehicle assemblers import parts with no domestic production source at a reduced ~2% duty instead of Brazil's standard automotive-parts tariff. Resolution 842 removes five tariff ex-numbers (engine components and electrical connectors, NCM 8409.99.99, 8511.40.00, 8536.50.90, 8536.90.40) — reverting those lines to the standard duty on the premise that domestic supply now exists — while adding 38 new ex-numbers: 17 for hybrid/electric-vehicle components (high-voltage NMC/LFP lithium-ion battery packs, oil coolers and collectors, brake and transmission parts for PHEV/HEV applications) and 21 for mining/heavy-equipment parts, both new categories carrying a sunset to 31 December 2027.

The European Commission approved a EUR 61 million Belgian state rescue loan to Lineas Group, Europe's largest private rail-freight operator, to cover short-term liquidity needs. The Commission cleared the loan under Article 107(3)(c) TFEU and the EU Guidelines on Rescue and Restructuring Aid (case SA.120185), citing an unexpected slowdown in industrial demand for rail freight in the European steel, automotive and chemical sectors. Belgium has committed to submit a restructuring plan if the loan is not repaid within six months. In a related decision (case SA.101469) the Commission found that two earlier 2023-2024 capital injections into Lineas by the Belgian sovereign fund SFPIM alongside private co-investor Argos Wityu were made on market terms and do not constitute state aid.

The European Commission approved, under EU State aid rules, a German scheme of up to EUR 1.6 billion to subsidise the construction and operation of publicly accessible high-power fast-charging stations for electric heavy-duty trucks at unmanaged motorway rest areas. The first tender tranche, run by Autobahn GmbH des Bundes on behalf of the Bundesministerium für Verkehr (BMV), covers roughly 124 sites and 1,410 charging points (725 CCS at a minimum 400 kW and 685 MCS at a minimum 1,000 kW). Aid takes the form of direct grants and recurring payments covering part of construction and operating costs, and is intended to accelerate investment that would not otherwise materialise on this timeline ahead of AFIR 2030 targets.

On 16 December 2025 the European Commission adopted the Communication on a Battery Booster Strategy (later published in the Official Journal as C/2026/682), part of the EU Automotive Package presented alongside the CO2 emission-standards review, the Automotive Omnibus simplification, and the Corporate Vehicle Decarbonisation initiative. The Battery Booster envelopes EUR 1.8bn of EU-budget support for the European battery value chain: EUR 1.5bn from the Innovation Fund as interest-free loans for European battery cell producers ramping to giga-scale output (delivered through a dedicated Battery Booster Facility, with the implementing Commission Decision in stakeholder consultation through 15 March 2026), plus EUR 300m for critical raw materials projects in Europe. The strategy is the first standalone EU industrial-finance instrument targeted exclusively at battery cell manufacturing, and is paired with RESourceEU (3 Dec 2025) and the Industrial Accelerator Act proposal (4 Mar 2026) to stitch together upstream CRM, midstream cell production and downstream automotive demand.

On 15 December 2025 Rosatom's fuel division (via subsidiary Renera, under managing company TVEL) put Russia's first full-cycle lithium-ion battery "gigafactory" into pilot-industrial operation in the Neman district of Kaliningrad Oblast. Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Mikhail Ivanov disclosed that the project was financed through a comprehensive state-support package: a RUB 5 billion preferential loan from the federal Industry Development Fund (FRP) under its "Avtokomponenty" (auto-components) programme, plus RUB 5 billion in direct subsidies from the Kaliningrad Oblast government, alongside a special investment contract (SPIC) for the project. The facility has a design capacity of 4 GWh/year — enough to supply battery packs for roughly 50,000 electric vehicles — and is described by officials as a step toward Russian "technological sovereignty" in energy-storage manufacturing following the exit of Western and Asian battery suppliers since 2022.

The European Commission approved German State aid of approximately €495 million to GlobalFoundries (Nasdaq: GFS) to support a €1.1 billion expansion of its Dresden 300mm fab (the "SPRINT" project), funding roughly 45% of eligible project costs. The decision was issued alongside a companion approval of ~€128 million for X-FAB's Erfurt MEMS-sensor expansion, together totalling €623 million in German semiconductor state aid under the EU Chips Act's "first-of-a-kind facility" framework. Conditions attached include prioritising EU customer orders during a supply crisis and funding skills/training programmes for engineers.

Banque des Territoires, the public-investment arm of France's Caisse des Dépôts group, granted a EUR 30 million (USD 35.2 million) mezzanine loan to E-Totem Infrastructures 2, an electric-vehicle charging platform owned by investment manager Conquest and built on technology from French IRVE specialist E-Totem. The financing is intended to accelerate nationwide deployment of the platform's charging-point network and was announced by Banque des Territoires as supporting "electric mobility and energy sovereignty." The measure is a single-company state-backed debt financing rather than a broad national scheme, and was logged by Global Trade Alert as a "Red" (trade/investment-distorting) state loan.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded a AUD 18.07 million grant to energy retailer Flow Power under the "Driving the Nation Program" to build the "Flow Power Highway" — a minimum 10-site, up to 84-charger ultrafast battery-electric-vehicle (BEV) charging network across Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, delivering 29.4 MW of total charging capacity. The AUD 18.07 million grant leverages a AUD 70.23 million total project value, with Flow Power partnering UK charge-point operator GRIDSERVE (via its GIGATONS venture) for hardware, software and analytics. Announced 10 December 2025 alongside two smaller ARENA EV-infrastructure grants (Essential Energy AUD 2.3m for regional NSW chargers; UTS/RACE for 2030 CRC AUD 1.09m for a national vehicle-grid-integration network).

The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA, also known as Yizhuang) Management Committee issued Notice 京开管发〔2025〕32号 on 10 December 2025 ("Measures for Accelerating the Building of Beijing Yizhuang Automotive Smart Manufacturing Innovation City"), effective through 31 December 2028. The package sets out ten support measures spanning whole-vehicle/component-supplier cooperation, smart-manufacturing upgrades, core-technology R&D, innovation-incubation platforms, new application scenarios, financial support, industrial-ecosystem integration, and vehicle-city fusion development, aimed at building a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei intelligent-connected new-energy-vehicle advanced manufacturing cluster anchored in Yizhuang. No aggregate budget or per-project subsidy caps are disclosed in the published measures or interpretation notice. Global Trade Alert logged the underlying state act (95714) as a single "state aid, unspecified" intervention (151434).

Morocco's Loi de Finances n° 50-25 for fiscal year 2026, promulgated by Dahir n° 1-25-67 of 10 December 2025 and published in Bulletin Officiel n° 7465 bis of 16 December 2025, sets the FY2026 customs-tariff schedule (continuing the EU Common External Tariff alignment process at 2.5%/17.5%/40% tiers with sector-specific input reductions), amends the fiscal regimes for Zones d'Accélération Industrielle and Casablanca Finance City, and delivers the 2026 tranche of the multi-year IS (corporate-tax) rate-convergence schedule under Framework Law n° 69-19. The law also extends green-investment fiscal accelerators aligned with the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the EU-Morocco Strategic Partnership on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains, and contains phosphate-sector fiscal provisions affecting OCP Group's DAP/MAP/TSP export treatment. Entry into force: 1 January 2026.

On 9 December 2025, Saudi Arabia's Local Content & Government Procurement Authority (LCGPA) issued the December 2025 batch expansion of its Mandatory List — a binding instrument requiring government entities, state-owned enterprises, and sub-contractors to source listed products exclusively from Saudi domestic manufacturers meeting the LCGPA-defined local-content threshold. The December 2025 expansion brings the list to approximately 1,444 national products across 16 sectors, effective 1 March 2026, with LCGPA targeting a total of approximately 2,000 products by end-2026. The Mandatory List operationalises the demand-side layer of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 / National Industrial Strategy (NIS) industrial-policy stack, directly restricting foreign-supplier access to Saudi annual government-procurement budgets estimated at SAR 500 billion+ across central government, Aramco, PIF-portfolio entities, Ma'aden, SEC, STC, Saudi Post, and Saudi Railway.

Brazil's Gecex/Camex approved Resolução Gecex Nº 826 on 4 December 2025 (published in the Diário Oficial da União 5 December 2025, in force 12 December 2025), amending the "Lista de Autopeças Não Produzidas" (Non-Produced Auto Parts List) created by Resolução Gecex Nº 284/2021. The resolution removes 17 products across 15 NCM lines from the exemption list — reverting those lines to Brazil's standard automotive-parts import duty on the premise that domestic production now covers them — while adding 24 products across 17 NCM lines to the preferential ~2% duty regime, with the additions carrying a sunset of 30 November 2027. This is the same rolling tariff-engineering instrument amended again three weeks later by Resolução Gecex Nº 842 (23 December 2025).