Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2665 actions· ✨ 90 recent

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated an anti-dumping investigation on 20 March 2026 into imports of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) originating in or exported from China PR and Russia (Initiation Notification No. 6/9/2026-DGTR), exercising powers under Rule 5 of the Anti-Dumping Rules 1995 and Sections 9A–9C of the Customs Tariff Act 1975. The investigation covers PTFE in all commercial forms — granular moulding powder, fine powder, and aqueous dispersion — under HS 3904.61, with the period of investigation (POI) set as April 2024 to September 2025 (18 months) and the injury investigation period spanning 2021-22 through the POI. The investigation was filed by Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFL) and other Indian domestic fluoropolymer producers alleging material injury from dumped imports; Russia's scope is unusual for India DGTR and constitutes the first formal trade-remedy reading of Russia's PTFE export pricing.

On 16 January 2026 the Yunnan Provincial People's Government issued Yunzhengfa [2026] No. 2, a package of 34 policy measures (effective through 2030) to support high-quality development of the Central Yunnan New Area (滇中新区), a national-level new area centred on Kunming. The measures span industrial upgrading, innovation, opening-up and fiscal/land support: transformation of traditional petrochemical and metallurgy industries into "hundred-billion-yuan" clusters, development of semiconductor materials/equipment, new-energy battery materials and non-ferrous/rare-precious-metals manufacturing using Yunnan's mineral and plateau-agriculture resources, and cultivation of low-altitude economy, biomanufacturing and new-materials industries. It also seeks to establish a South/Southeast Asia aircraft-delivery centre and one-stop aviation-maintenance base in the new area.

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) announced the 2026–2030 Basic Plan for Strengthening the Materials, Parts & Equipment (MPE / 소부장) Industry on 24 October 2025, succeeding the 2020–2025 MPE Basic Plan born from the 2019 Japan export shock. The new five-year plan targets three pillars — innovation, market, and ecosystem — to cut import dependence on 100+ strategic materials, components, and equipment items underpinning Korea's semiconductor, display, battery, and advanced-manufacturing sectors. Key instruments include ten additional MPE Specialized Clusters, 15 "Super Eul" world- leading technology projects, five AI New Materials projects, and KRW 35 billion in joint R&D funding; full annual appropriations flow through the government budget cycle.

On 21 October 2025, the Queensland Government announced an AUD 30 million investment via the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) into Silica Resources Australia (SRA), backing the Mourilyan Silica Sands Project roughly 30km south of Innisfail in Far North Queensland, near the Port of Mourilyan. The funding supports plant, equipment and land acquisition for a project producing high-purity silica sand and silica flour used in glass (including display/TFT glass), solar-panel manufacturing, semiconductors, fibreglass composites and foundry applications. Production is targeted to reach 360,000+ tonnes per year within 12 months and 750,000+ tonnes within 5 years, with Japan, South Korea and the US identified as target export markets.

METI certified a Supply Security Plan (供給確保計画) filed by Nitto Boseki Co., Ltd. under Japan's Economic Security Promotion Act, designating low-thermal-expansion glass cloth for cutting-edge logic IC packaging substrates as a "specified critical good" material input. The certification (plan no. 2025-semicon-3-1, approved 7 August 2025) qualifies Nitto Boseki for a grant of up to JPY 2.4 billion (~USD 16 million) toward a JPY 7.2 billion new production line at its Fukushima No. 2 plant, targeting a roughly 200% increase in domestic capacity for this glass-cloth grade with supply starting July 2027 and a committed 10-year production run.

METI certified a Supply Security Plan (供給確保計画) filed by DIC Corporation under Japan's Economic Security Promotion Act, designating epoxy resin used in semiconductor packaging/encapsulation as a "specified critical good" material input. The certification (plan no. 2025-semicon-2-1, approved 31 July 2025) qualifies DIC for a grant of up to JPY 3 billion (~USD 20.1 million) toward a new epoxy-resin plant at its Chiba (Ichihara) factory, targeting roughly a 59% increase in domestic production capacity for semiconductor-grade epoxy resin, with supply starting July 2029.

METI certified a Supply Security Plan (供給確保計画) filed by JX Metals (JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation, now JX Advanced Metals) under Japan's Economic Security Promotion Act, designating copper-based sputtering targets used in semiconductor wiring as a "specified critical good." The certification (plan no. 2025-semicon-1-1, approved 18 July 2025) is the first in the 2025 semiconductor tranche and qualifies JX Metals for a grant of up to JPY 2.2 billion (~USD 14.8 million) toward roughly JPY 6.6 billion of capex expanding sputtering-target production capacity at its Hitachinaka (Ibaraki Prefecture) plant.