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

On 27 December 2021 the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan adopted Law No. 86-VII ZRK "On Industrial Policy" (Закон Республики Казахстан "О промышленной политике"), the horizontal framework statute that defines and governs the full toolkit of state-support instruments available to industrial entities — subsidies, in-kind grants, special economic zone (SEZ) regimes, industrial zone regimes, offtake guarantees, public-procurement preferences, long-term tariff agreements, and the "single card of industrialization" monitoring framework. The law replaced the earlier 2014 industrial-and-innovative-development statute and consolidated previously dispersed authority for the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development (now Ministry of Industry and Construction) as the policy owner, with the Bank for Development of Kazakhstan (BDK / DBK) as the principal industrial- finance vehicle and Samruk-Kazyna and Tau-Ken Samruk as the state-equity vehicles. It is the enabling parent instrument under which all downstream Kazakh industrial-policy programmes (the 2023-12-28 REE Comprehensive Plan, the 2025-12-26 Subsoil Code amendments, the 18 October 2024 Investment Policy Concept until 2029, and the SEZ / industrial-zone regimes hosting Western FDI) operate. The statute has been amended eleven times between July 2022 and September 2025, including by Law 86-VIII ZRK of 21 May 2024 which revised Article 24 (state-support measures).

The Union Cabinet approved the Semicon India Programme on 15 December 2021, establishing the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) as the nodal agency. The programme offers fiscal support of up to 50% of project cost for silicon semiconductor fabs, compound semiconductor facilities, display fabs, ATMP/OSAT units, and chip design. Total outlay: Rs 76,000 crore (approximately $10.2bn at 2021 exchange rates). By February 2024, the Cabinet had approved three major semiconductor units under ISM: Tata Electronics with PSMC (semiconductor fab, Dholera, Rs 91,526 crore), Tata Electronics OSAT (Morigaon, Assam, Rs 27,120 crore), and CG Power OSAT (Rs 7,584 crore), totalling over Rs 1.26 lakh crore in committed investment from private applicants.

On 9 December 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce / BIS issued an interim final rule (86 FR 70003) removing 31 General Approved Exclusions (GAEs) from the Section 232 tariff exclusions framework — 27 for steel and 4 for aluminum. The removals followed Commerce's review of public comments on the 14 December 2020 interim final rule that first established the GAE pathway and additional analysis of exclusion-request submissions; Commerce concluded these 31 GAEs no longer met the criteria for blanket exclusion. Effective 27 December 2021, importers of the affected HTS-coded products must either file individual exclusion requests or pay the Section 232 duties of 25% (steel) and 10% (aluminum).

The Bahraini Council of Ministers, chaired by HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and issued pursuant to directives of HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, launched the five-pillar Economic Recovery Plan on 31 October 2021 as the government's post-COVID-19 structural-adjustment and growth framework through 2024–2030. The plan catalyses a USD 30 billion strategic-projects pipeline, delivers six new priority-sector strategies (oil and gas, tourism, logistics, financial services, telecommunications/ICT, manufacturing), targets 20,000 new Bahraini jobs and 10,000 annual training slots, and mandates fiscal balance by 2024 including the doubling of VAT from 5% to 10% effective 1 January 2022 under Royal Decree 33/2021. It is the foundational parent framework for all subsequent Bahraini sectoral decrees and investment decisions through 2030, and is materially relevant to the global non-Chinese aluminium supply chain through Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the world's largest non-Chinese primary aluminium smelters at approximately 1.5 million tonnes per annum.

On 5 October 2021, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, jointly with the Ministry of Finance, MEXT and MLIT, published amendments to the Regulatory Notices under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA) adding two new categories to the "Core Business Sectors" subject to mandatory prior-notification FDI screening: metal mining (including mineral exploration vessels and land/underwater survey activity) and manufacturing, repair/maintenance or software for equipment used in metal mining (exploration vessels, marine equipment, excavators, drilling machines). The stated purpose is to secure the stable supply of critical mineral resources including rare earths. The amendment took effect 4 November 2021 after a 30-day transitional period; any inward direct investment of 1% or more in a covered business now requires case-by-case government pre-approval.

On 22 July 2021, Australia's Minister for Industry, Science and Technology announced an AUD 14.8 million Modern Manufacturing Initiative grant to Lynas Rare Earths for a new Rare Earth Carbonate Refining Circuit at its planned Kalgoorlie, Western Australia processing facility. The published GrantConnect award record (GA200152, approved 16 June 2021) lists the contracted grant value to recipient Lynas Kalgoorlie Pty Ltd at AUD 15,618,958.30 (GST inclusive). The process reduces chemical consumption and processing cost for refining ore from Lynas's Mt Weld deposit onshore in Australia, reducing reliance on Chinese midstream rare earth refining capacity.

The US Bureau of Industry and Security added five Xinjiang-based entities to the Entity List on June 24, 2021, citing their roles in human rights violations and forced labor against Uyghur, Kazakh, and other Muslim minority populations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The five entities — four major polysilicon and silicon producers plus the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) paramilitary body — are subject to a presumption-of- denial licensing policy for most items. Together the four polysilicon companies supplied a significant fraction of global polysilicon feedstock used in solar panel manufacturing.

The GCC Bureau of Technical Secretariat for Anti-Injurious Practices in International Trade (GCC-TSAIP) imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty of 33% on imports of aluminium alloy plates, sheets and strip (HS 7606.12.00 and 7606.92.00) originating in China, effective across all six GCC member states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman). The investigation was initiated 29 April 2020 and the definitive measure entered into force on 22 July 2021 (GAFT imposed date), with expiry on 21 July 2026. A sunset review was initiated on 21 April 2026; the duty remains in force pending its outcome.

The Union Cabinet on 12 May 2021 approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme "National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage" with a Rs 18,100 crore (~USD 2.4 bn) outlay over five years to build 50 GWh of ACC and 5 GWh of "Niche" ACC manufacturing capacity in India. Selected bidders receive PLI cash incentives over five years on sale of cells made in India, gated on minimum 25% domestic value addition rising to 60% by year five and chemistry-agnostic eligibility (Li-ion, Na-ion, solid-state, flow, lead-acid). The MHI awarded the first 50 GWh tranche on 24 March 2022 (Hyundai Global Motors 20 GWh, Ola Electric 20 GWh, Reliance New Energy Solar 5 GWh, Rajesh Exports 5 GWh) under a QCBS global tender; the Hyundai Global Motors award was withdrawn after Hyundai Motor Company disowned the bidder in August 2022, triggering a re-tender of the orphaned capacity that completed in 2025.

BIS amended the Commerce Control List (CCL) under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement decisions agreed at the December 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary meeting, revising 22 ECCNs across nine CCL categories — including nuclear and conventional arms-related items, materials, manufacturing equipment, semiconductors, laser/sensor systems, and aerospace. The rule harmonises US controls with those of Wassenaar Participating States, maintaining competitive parity among allied exporters while preserving national-security licensing for non-partner destinations. Separately, the rule eliminated email notification and self-classification reporting obligations for most mass-market encryption products and publicly available encryption source code, reducing associated compliance submissions by an estimated 60–80%.

On 22 March 2021, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched Operation 300bn at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi — a 10-year national industrial strategy delivered by the newly created Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT, established July 2020). The strategy targets raising the industrial sector's annual GDP contribution from AED 133bn (~USD 36bn) to AED 300bn (~USD 82bn) by 2031, lifting R&D spend from AED 21bn to AED 57bn (1.3% → 2% of GDP), and supporting more than 13,500 industrial SMEs through an AED 30bn (~USD 8.2bn) Emirates Development Bank (EDB) financing portfolio. Eleven priority sub-sectors are organised into three baskets: Stimulating Growth (food/beverage, pharmaceuticals, electrical equipment), Advanced Manufacturing (petrochemicals, rubber/plastics, machinery), and Industries of the Future (hydrogen, medical technology, space technology).

On 20 January 2021, DOE's Office of Fossil Energy (now FECM), managed through the National Energy Technology Laboratory, announced Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0002404, making USD 28.35 million available for cost-shared R&D projects developing advanced midstream processing technologies for rare earth elements and critical minerals from coal and coal by-products, for industrial and manufacturing applications. Applications were due 1 March 2021, with up to eight Phase 1 awards anticipated; no specific recipients were named at announcement.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) removed three persons from the Unverified List (UVL) effective January 11, 2021 after completing successful end-use checks that verified their bona fides under §744.15(c)(2) of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The three removed parties are DMA Logistics GmbH (Germany), Halm Elektronik GmbH (Germany), and Integrated Production and Test Engineering / IPTE (Mexico). Removal restores eligibility for EAR license exceptions and eliminates the requirement for US exporters to obtain a signed UVL Statement before shipping items subject to the EAR to these parties.

BIS amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) Commerce Control List to clarify the scope of ECCN 1C991 (vaccines, immunotoxins, and related medical products containing or derived from controlled biological agents) consistent with release and exclusion notes adopted at the June 2019 Australia Group (AG) Plenary Meeting. The rule adds clarifying language specifying which vaccines and medical products fall inside versus outside the ECCN 1C991 control perimeter, ensuring that routine vaccines produced by standard manufacturing methods are properly excluded. The changes align US controls with the Australia Group Common Control Lists without introducing new country-specific restrictions or license requirements.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR, 15 CFR Part 710) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR, 15 CFR Parts 712 and 745) to implement two OPCW Conference of States Parties decisions (C-24/DEC.4 and C-24/DEC.5) from November 2019. The rule adds four chemical families — two families of alkyl phosphonamidic fluorides, O-alkyl phosphoramidofluoridates, and quaternary/bisquaternary carbamates — to CWC Schedule 1(A), effective immediately upon publication. The rule also clarifies the definition of "production" in 15 CFR § 710.1 to include intermediates, by-products, and waste products generated within a defined manufacturing sequence.