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

Executive Order 14413, signed 22 June 2026, directs a national quantum-computing industrial-policy push: the QC-ADDS effort to deliver large-scale quantum computers to Department of Energy facilities for application development and discovery science, a National Center for Quantum Computing Assessment, an expanded Quantum Information Science and Technology Counterintelligence Protection Team, and a network of National QIST Workforce Development Institutes. It sets staged deadlines (30/60/90/120/180 days) for agency policy alignment, sensor-project identification, QC-ADDS technical specifications, and workforce/supply-chain plans, plus a September 2028 target for next-generation quantum-sensor deployment. Section 9 directs harmonisation of research-security and export-control policy with allies to prevent "countries of concern" from acquiring critical quantum technologies, but the order does not itself impose any new export-control rule. No dollar figures are specified.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs established the Quantum Industry Technology Promotion Office (QITPO) on April 27, 2026, as the government's primary vehicle to develop Taiwan's role in the global quantum supply chain beyond its established "Silicon Island" semiconductor position. QITPO is mandated across three axes: supporting Taiwanese manufacturers' technical capabilities in early-stage quantum development ("Quantum Taiwan" initiative); creating a cross-sector exchange platform between industry, academia, and research institutions; and attracting global quantum companies to establish R&D centres in Taiwan. Eighteen Taiwanese companies participated in the launch event.

On 15 April 2026 Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) published the interim summary "Manufacturing Base Strengthening Report" from the Study Group on Strengthening Manufacturing Base in Light of Geopolitical Risks. The report frames Japan's manufacturing base as the source of national power and proposes shifting economic-security support for "autonomy assurance" from "point" measures to "area"-wide measures — expanding the scope of Specified Critical Materials under the 2022 Economic Security Promotion Act (ESPA) beyond narrowly defined inputs to cover foundational petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene, methanol, synthetic rubber) and process-industry technologies (casting, forging), plus components for emerging technologies (humanoid-robot actuators and sensors, lasers for quantum computing). It is the cornerstone framework document operationalising METI's FY2026 strategic-budget package (~¥3.07 trillion overall envelope; ~¥1.23 trillion specifically for semiconductors and AI, including ¥150bn for Rapidus and ¥387.3bn for AI development) as Japan's coordinated response to deepening Chinese export-control pressure on dual-use items, gallium/germanium, graphite, antimony and heavy rare earths.

On 1 April 2026, Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and President Emmanuel Macron held a Tokyo summit and signed a bilateral roadmap on cooperation in critical minerals — the first formal Japan-France instrument on supply-chain resilience for rare earths and other critical materials. The centrepiece is joint government support for Caremag, a heavy rare-earths refining project in southern France due to begin operations in late 2026, with backing from Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), Iwatani Corporation, and the French government; the project targets approximately 20% of Japan's future demand for dysprosium and terbium (heavy rare-earth oxides used in EV motors, offshore-wind turbines, and electronic components). The two leaders also launched parallel high-level dialogues on dual-use AI, quantum technologies, space (including debris mitigation), cybersecurity, and a joint declaration on startups and innovation, expressing "serious concerns" over export controls on critical minerals and other materials affecting global supply chains — an explicit reference to China's tightening rare-earths export regime.

The European Commission approved Luxembourg's €500 million state aid scheme (SA.120921) under Section 6.1 of the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), authorising support for strategic investments that add cleantech manufacturing capacity in net-zero technologies including solar, wind, heat pumps, and batteries (including production using secondary raw materials). Aid may be granted until 31 December 2030. This is the first CISAF cleantech manufacturing capacity approval for a small EU Member State, establishing a per-capita-quantum precedent distinct from Germany SA.121215 (large MS) and Greece SA.117469 (mid MS), and closes the Luxembourg-issuer gap in the 2026 CISAF cohort.

South Korea's 13th National Strategic Technology Special Committee (chaired by MSIT) adopted the 2026 Annual Implementation Plan for the First Basic Plan for National Strategic Technology Development (2024–2028), committing KRW 8.6 trillion in 2026 R&D investment — a ~30% YoY increase from KRW 6.5 trillion in 2025 — across 19 NEXT strategic-technology fields encompassing AI, semiconductors, quantum, displays, and secondary batteries, coordinated across 23 ministries. The plan is supplemented by KRW 46.6 trillion in policy finance delivered through Korea Development Bank (KDB), Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF), and Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC), providing the horizontal funding-coordination architecture that operationalises all sector-specific Korean strategic-technology legislative instruments.

The Zambian Minister of Finance suspended the 10% export duty on copper concentrates (HS 2603.00.21–29) effective 5 March 2026 under Section 89 of the Customs and Excise Act, providing temporary duty relief to miners whose domestic processing capacity was constrained by extended smelter maintenance cycles at Mopani/ZCCM-IH, Lumwana (Barrick), First Quantum Kansanshi, and Nkana. The suspension allows qualifying copper concentrate to be exported for offshore processing at zero duty, addressing a stockpile overhang across Zambia's copper belt that could not be absorbed by the domestic smelter fleet. A follow-on extension (SI No. 43/2026, effective 1 June 2026 through 30 September 2026) introduced company-specific quotas totalling 271,742 t and mandated channelling through Industrial Resources Limited, an IDC subsidiary.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched the Gujarat Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy 2026–2031 on 1 March 2026 at the SemiConnect 2026 Conference in Gandhinagar, establishing a five-year ₹1,000 crore Swadeshi Anusandhan Fund (Indigenous Innovation Fund) for domestic R&D across strategic sectors including AI, semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, green energy, and defence. The policy targets state STI expenditure of 1% of GSDP by 2030, creation of 1 lakh skilled research professionals, 1,000+ IP filings annually, and builds three Gujarat Rajya Research and Innovation Cluster (GRRIC) corridors to anchor the state's growing semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.

On 17 February 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched Canada's first standalone Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS), introducing the "Build–Partner–Buy" framework as the central guiding principle of Canadian defence procurement. The strategy mobilises over half a trillion CAD across the next decade — including ~CAD 180 bn in defence procurement opportunities, ~CAD 290 bn in defence-related capital investment, and ~CAD 125 bn in anticipated downstream economic benefit by 2035 — and targets 125,000 new high-paying jobs. Operationally, the DIS introduces Canadian Content Value (CCV) requirements with a proposed Canadian Company Boost for firms meeting 70–100% domestic-content thresholds, sets a 10-year goal of awarding 70% of defence procurements to Canadian firms, and signals willingness to invoke the national security exception to set aside trade-agreement obligations and exclude foreign bidders for "sovereign capability" contracts. It is the first standalone industrial-strategy document covering the Canadian defence-industrial base, distinct from prior DPA-narrow filings.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 70 million loan with German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems GmbH, financing the company's 2025-2028 research, development and innovation programme in unmanned aerial systems. The EIB loan sits inside a EUR 150 million total financing package alongside Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and KfW, publicly announced by the EIB on 12 February 2026. It is the EIB's second direct investment in the company, following a EUR 10 million commitment in June 2021, and is framed explicitly around building European defence and technological-sovereignty capacity in unmanned systems.

Australia's National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, the federal government's AUD 15 billion sovereign investment vehicle, made an AUD 20 million (USD 14 million) equity investment in Diraq, a Sydney-based silicon-qubit quantum computing startup spun out of UNSW Sydney. The funding backs research, product development and commercialisation as Diraq works toward a utility-scale quantum computer, and is framed by the NRFC as building sovereign quantum capability and keeping the IP and jobs onshore in Australia.

Dubai's Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched AED 12.8 billion (~USD 3.5bn) in strategic expansion projects for the Dubai Silicon Oasis free zone, comprising a AED 11 billion (~USD 3.0bn) "District IO" technology district and a AED 1.8 billion (~USD 0.49bn) Block 14 mixed-use development. District IO targets smart mobility, 3D printing, robotics, X-Tech, AI, quantum computing and Web3 firms via 25 LEED-compliant buildings, R&D labs and data centres, with capacity for 6,500+ companies and a stated goal of AED 103bn GDP contribution and 70,000+ jobs by 2036. Global Trade Alert classifies the intervention as a financial grant plus an in-kind grant to the free zone.

Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150 of 16 January 2026 amends the founding regulation of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (Regulation (EU) 2021/1173), adding two new mandate pillars: deployment of "AI gigafactories" — large-scale, energy-efficient compute facilities supporting full-lifecycle training and inference of very large AI models for European researchers, startups and industry — and a broadened quantum technologies pillar covering quantum computing, simulation, communication, and sensing/metrology, alongside creation of a new Quantum Technologies Advisory Group (QTAG). EuroHPC JU's existing joint EU/member-state budget baseline is at least EUR 8.2bn for 2021-2027, now expanded to fund these additional pillars; the regulation entered into force 20 January 2026.