Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2666 actions· ✨ 90 recent

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 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.

Presidential Proclamation 11021 of 2 April 2026 (signed by President Trump, effective 6 April 2026 at 12:01 a.m. EDT, published 9 April 2026 at 91 FR 18201) consolidates and restructures the Section 232 tariff architecture for aluminum, steel, and copper. The proclamation modifies Proclamations 9704 (aluminum), 9705 (steel), and 10962 (copper) and applies tiered ad valorem duties to the full customs value of imported articles regardless of metal content: 50% on aluminum/steel articles and most copper articles; 25% on certain copper articles and on derivative articles substantially made of the three metals; 10% on derivative articles produced abroad using entirely US-smelted/cast metals; and 0% supplemental duty where existing tariffs already meet a 15% combined-rate floor. UK products receive preferential rates (25% on primary articles and 15% on certain derivatives) contingent on UK smelting/casting under the US–UK trade framework.

President Trump signed Proclamation 10962 on 30 July 2025, imposing a 50% Section 232 tariff on imports of semi-finished copper products (pipes, wires, rods, sheets, tubes, foils) and copper-intensive derivative products (cables, connectors, electrical components, pipe fittings) effective 12:01 a.m. ET on 1 August 2025. The proclamation also authorises the Commerce Secretary to impose a 25% domestic-sales requirement and export controls on high-quality copper scrap, and lays out a phased schedule for refined-copper tariffs (15% from 1 Jan 2027, 30% from 1 Jan 2028) contingent on a Commerce review report due 30 June 2026. Copper input materials (ores, concentrates, cathodes, anodes) and copper scrap itself are exempt from the 50% tariff. The original 90-day "inclusions" process for expanding the derivative list was terminated by a follow-on April 2026 proclamation that consolidated authority with Commerce + USTR.

South Africa's ITAC, acting on an application from STI Electrical (Pty) Ltd, recommended increasing the general customs duty on transformer cores with a power handling capacity not exceeding 50,000 KVA (tariff subheading 8504.90, split into new lines 8504.90.10 and 8504.90.90) from 5% to 15% ad valorem — the WTO bound rate. SARS gave effect to the change via a Schedule No. 1 tariff amendment effective 27 June 2025. As a SACU common external tariff, the increase applies across South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia. ITAC found the domestic industry's production and sales volumes had declined over the investigation period and that it was price-uncompetitive against imports, and recommended a three-year review of industry performance post-implementation.