Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The European Commission approved on 15 December 2025 a EUR 408 million Spanish state aid scheme (SA.119880) under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), to support decarbonisation of manufacturing industry. The scheme funds direct grants — capped at EUR 200 million per company or project — for investments in electrification, switching to renewable or low-carbon hydrogen, waste heat recovery, and carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) across a wide range of sectors including chemicals, ceramics, paper and metallurgy. Aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to enterprises of all sizes, inside and outside the EU Emissions Trading System, and cannot finance increases in production capacity; Spain expects the scheme to deliver annual emissions savings of around 1.6 megatonnes of CO2, with beneficiary projects required to become operational within 60 months of the aid grant.

Pakistan's Directorate General of Customs Valuation (Karachi), acting under the Federal Board of Revenue, issued Valuation Ruling No. 2023/2025 on 5 November 2025 (C.No. Misc/12/2025-I/1073), fixing new minimum customs values under Section 25A of the Customs Act, 1969 for imported Zirconium Silicate (PCT 2530.9020): US$2.084/kg (C&F) for China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam-origin shipments, and US$2.200/kg for Europe/USA-origin shipments. The ruling followed a finding that declared import values — as low as US$0.35/kg from China against a China/Europe international benchmark of US$1.70-1.82/kg for the constituent raw material (Zircon Sand) — were substantially below prevailing international market prices, and names China as the "global benchmark" origin used to set the floor.

Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber executive committee (GECEX) issued Resolution No. 794 on 25 September 2025, published in the Diário Oficial da União on 26 September 2025, revoking Ex-Tarifário duty exemptions on six specific tariff-line items spanning three prior ex-tarifário annexes: one Information Technology/Telecommunications line (NCM 9032.89.82, Ex 043, under Resolução Gecex 323/2022), and five Capital Goods lines covering mining-boring machinery (NCM 8430.41.20, Ex 015/025/050, under Resolução Gecex 311/2022), machine-tools for stone/ceramics working (NCM 8464.10.00, Ex 059), industrial washing/cleaning machinery parts (NCM 8450.90.10, Ex 029/032/033) and refrigeration-equipment parts (NCM 8418.99.00, Ex 048) (all under Resolução Gecex 322/2022). The affected lines revert from the reduced Ex-Tarifário rate (typically 0%) to Brazil's standard Mercosur Common External Tariff (TEC) rate, effective 60 days after publication (25 November 2025) — the date Global Trade Alert records as implementation.

The Australian Border Force published Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. TC 25/25 on 2 July 2025 under sections 269K and 269R of the Customs Act 1901, covering new Tariff Concession Order (TCO) applications and TCOs made for goods not produced domestically (solvents, adhesives, geotextiles, ceramics, glass fibre fabric, HDPE/LLDPE resins, subsea and rail hardware), each carrying a 5% general-tariff duty-free concession, plus revocations and a cheese quota allocation notice. This is a routine, periodic administrative tariff-concession cycle rather than a discrete policy announcement.

Mexico's Secretaría de Economía (SE), through UPCI, published a Resolución Preliminar in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 26 February 2026 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of dinnerware and loose ceramic dinnerware pieces, including porcelain, originating from China (tariff fractions 6911.10.01 and 6912.00.99, TIGIE). The duty is a reference-price mechanism: imports priced below USD 2.58/kg pay the difference between the import price and the reference price, capped at each exporter's individual dumping margin. The measure reopens a case originally dating to 2012, after Mexico's federal administrative courts (TFJA) nullified the 2014 original duty and its 2019 extension on procedural grounds; SE published the resolution reinitiating the investigation on 15 May 2025. In a related but separate proceeding, SE also published a resolution on 25 February 2026 formally closing out the sunset/validity review of the now-annulled 2014 duty (previously USD 2.61/kg).