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

Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) opened a formal antidumping investigation via Circular nº 51 (3 July 2026, published Diário Oficial da União 6 July 2026) into imports of welded circular-section carbon-steel pipes for fluid conduction (outer diameter 14"-48", NCM 7305.11/12/19/31/39 and 7306.19/30) from China, following a petition by Confab Industrial S.A. (a Tenaris subsidiary). The dumping-evidence period runs July 2024-June 2025 and the injury-analysis period July 2020-June 2025. DECOM explicitly finds that market-economy conditions do not prevail in China's producing segment, citing state-owned-enterprise dominance, five-year plans and "China's decisive contribution to global steel overcapacity." No preliminary dumping margin is disclosed at this initiation stage.

On 3 July 2026 the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) issued a final injury finding in Inquiry NQ-2025-009, determining that dumped (and, for non-cooperating exporters, subsidized) imports of truck bodies from China have caused material injury to the Canadian domestic industry. Final anti-dumping duties of 119.4% (Qingdao CIMC Reefer Trailer Co., Ltd.) and 257.1% (all other exporters) are now collected by CBSA on goods released on or after 3 July 2026. CBSA separately terminated the parallel subsidy (countervailing duty) investigation with respect to CIMC Reefer on 4 June 2026 after finding its subsidy margin (0.9%) insignificant; CBSA and CITT statements indicate the countervailing-duty track continued and duties are being collected for the non-cooperating "all other exporters" category.

China's Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement No. 26 of 2026 on June 24, 2026, establishing a formal reporting and handling system for violations of export controls on strategic minerals and dual-use items, effective July 1, 2026. The mechanism opens two reporting channels — a dedicated hotline (010-12369) and an online portal (aqygzj.mofcom.gov.cn) — through which any organisation or individual may report suspected violations including unauthorised exports, circumvention via third-country re-routing, illegal technology transfers, and provision of services to sanctioned exporters. Anonymous reports are accepted; real-name reporters may qualify for monetary rewards; voluntary self-disclosure is treated as a mitigating factor in penalty determination. Service providers including freight forwarders and financial institutions face mandatory reporting obligations when they discover suspected violations in the course of business.

On June 8, 2026, the US Department of Defense published its annual update to the Section 1260H Chinese Military Companies (CMIC) list, adding 65 entities (17 new parent companies and 48 subsidiaries), bringing the total to approximately 188–200 designated entities. Major additions span EV and battery manufacturing (BYD, NIO, CATL), consumer internet (Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent), semiconductors (SMIC, YMTC, CXMT), solar (JA Solar, Trina Solar), biotech (BGI Genomics, WuXi AppTec), drones/robotics (DJI, Unitree, RoboSense), and telecoms (TP-Link). Effective June 30, 2026, DoD is prohibited from procuring goods, services, or technology directly from listed entities; effective June 30, 2027, the ban extends to indirect supply-chain procurement through prime contractors and all sub-tiers.

On 4 June 2026 USTR published a formal Notice of Determination in the Federal Register (doc 2026-11158, docket USTR-2025-0043) concluding that Brazil's acts, policies, and practices in six areas — digital trade and electronic payment services, unfair preferential tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, IP protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation — are unreasonable and burden US commerce. Simultaneously, USTR proposed a 25% ad valorem tariff on all Brazilian-origin goods, subject to ~1,600 HTS subheading exclusions including approximately 430 civil-aircraft lines. A public hearing is scheduled for 6 July 2026 and USTR faces a statutory deadline of 15 July 2026 to finalise any responsive action; the tariff has not yet taken effect.

On 3 June 2026 the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal for the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) — COM(2026) 502 — as part of the European Technological Sovereignty Package. The CADA proposes to triple EU data-centre capacity over five to seven years, introduces a single EU-wide sovereignty assessment framework for cloud and AI services, and establishes common EU-level procurement mechanisms for public administrations prioritising EU-based cloud and AI infrastructure. As a Commission proposal the CADA now enters co-decision (European Parliament + Council) and is not yet law; it is structurally distinct from the co-adopted Chips Act 2.0, addressing cloud infrastructure and AI compute capacity rather than semiconductor supply chains.

On 1 June 2026, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), a global business-advisory and expert-witness firm, agreed to pay $1,050,000 to settle apparent civil liability for six indirect dealings in prohibited debt of VTB Bank OAO between April 2019 and May 2021 — constituting violations of the Russia Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations (RuHSR) and the then-applicable Directive 1 debt-tenor restrictions. FTI had been engaged via an intermediary global law firm to provide expert economic consulting services supporting VTB in Singapore litigation; invoices issued through that intermediary went unpaid or were paid far beyond the permissible 14-day tenor, extending prohibited debt on six occasions totalling approximately $353,862. OFAC determined the conduct was non-egregious and not voluntarily self-disclosed, and imposed a penalty of $1,050,000 — double the $525,000 base penalty — citing the foundational principle that a party may not do indirectly what it cannot do directly.

The UK laid the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/543) before Parliament on 19 May 2026; it came into force on 20 May 2026. The instrument inserts a new Chapter 4KA (regulations 46Z23A-46Z23G) into the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, prohibiting the import into the UK of uranium (HS 2844.10/2844.20/2844.30) that originates in or is consigned from Russia, the direct or indirect acquisition of Russian-origin or Russia-located uranium, and the supply or delivery of uranium from Russia to a third country — plus associated technical assistance, financial services/funds, and brokering services. Each prohibition carries a criminal offence with a reasonable-cause-to- suspect defence, subject to narrow exceptions and licensing grounds at regulations 16-19 of the amending instrument. The same instrument separately extends the existing ban on imports of relevant (2709-origin) Russian crude to cover oil products refined from that crude in a third country (new regulations 46Z9F-46Z9I).

On 13 May 2026, Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC — the DRC state cobalt monopsony), Trafigura Pte Ltd, and EVelution Energy LLC signed a tripartite MOU in Madrid to establish a long-term supply framework for Congolese cobalt hydroxide to the United States. EGC will originate cobalt hydroxide from artisanal and small-scale mining; Trafigura will provide logistics and marketing services; EVelution will process the material into battery-grade cobalt sulfate and alloy-grade cobalt metal at a new first-of-kind commercial-scale refinery in Yuma County, Arizona (construction 2027, target completion 2029). The arrangement is designed to supply approximately 40% of projected US cobalt demand for aerospace, defence, and EV batteries. The MOU operationalises the December 2025 US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement at the commercial supply-chain level, creating a primary DRC→US cobalt flow that bypasses Chinese refiners.

On 9 May 2026 Mozambique's Assembleia da República approved, by consensus of all four parliamentary caucuses under an urgency procedure submitted by President Daniel Chapo, a standalone Lei de Conteúdo Local establishing the legislative-level local-content framework for the country's petroleum and natural gas megaprojects. The law was promulgated on 5 June 2026. It defines goods and services as qualifying local content when they meet at least one of three thresholds: ≥80% national production factors, ≥40% Mozambican company ownership, or a predominantly Mozambican payroll. It mandates integration of national labour, preference for Mozambican subcontractors and goods-and-services suppliers, and creates a dedicated Local Content Agency (Agência de Conteúdo Local) to oversee compliance and enforce penalties. Primary application: TotalEnergies Area 1 (Mozambique LNG) and ExxonMobil/Eni Area 4 (Rovuma LNG / Coral South).

Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) published a definitive countervailing (anti-subsidy) duty of 4.5% on imports of steel corner/finishing beading and angles from China, effective 8 May 2026, under Case 677. The investigation was initiated 30 May 2025 following an application from domestic manufacturer Rondo Building Services Pty Ltd, covering metallic-coated corner beading and angles up to 0.49mm base metal thickness under HS codes 7216.61.00, 7216.69.00, 7216.91.00, 7216.99.00 and 7308.90.00. A companion definitive anti-dumping duty of 27.8% on the same product from non-cooperative Chinese exporters was imposed under the same case.

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính issued Directive 38/CĐ-TTg on 5 May 2026, mobilising a cross-ministerial enforcement campaign against intellectual property infringement running 7–30 May 2026 with a 31 May reporting deadline. The directive explicitly responds to the USTR 2026 Special 301 designation of Vietnam as a Priority Foreign Country — the first such designation in eleven years — which triggers a statutory 30-day window for USTR to decide whether to open a Section 301 investigation. Ministries of Public Security, Industry and Trade (Market Surveillance), Information and Communications, and Culture are mobilised for coordinated raids targeting counterfeit-goods exporters, pirated-content platforms, and software-copyright violators, with the Prime Minister signalling enforcement will be permanent rather than a one-off campaign.

On 2 May 2026, MOFCOM issued Announcement No. 21 of 2026 — the first concrete prohibition order ever issued under China's 2021 "Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extra-territorial Application of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures" (Blocking Rules) and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (AFSL). The order prohibits any Chinese organisation, individual, or foreign party operating in China from recognising, enforcing, or complying with US sanctions imposed under Executive Orders 13902 and 13846 against five Chinese independent ("teapot") refineries — Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refining Co., Ltd., Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group Co., Ltd., Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group Co., Ltd., and Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co., Ltd. — all designated by OFAC for purchasing Iranian crude. The announcement is the first operational test of the framework built up across the AFSL (2021), the AFSL Implementation Regulations (Order 803, March 2025), and State Council Order 835 on Countering Foreign Unlawful Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (April 2026), and creates a direct compliance conflict for banks, insurers, traders, and shipping companies operating in or with China that had been winding down their exposure to the listed refineries.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14404, "Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and for Threats to United States National Security and Foreign Policy," on 1 May 2026. The order operationalises the country-specific national emergency declared by EO 14380 (29 January 2026) — which had been preserved after the SCOTUS *Learning Resources* vacatur of the IEEPA tariff authority — by establishing a sectoral OFAC blocking regime. Section 2 authorises asset-blocking against any foreign person determined by the Secretary of Treasury (in consultation with State) to operate in Cuba's energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sectors, or "any other sector" subsequently designated. Section 3 suspends entry under INA § 212(f) for covered aliens. Section 4 authorises secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct or facilitate significant transactions for blocked persons, with both correspondent-account and SDN-listing remedies. The EO itself includes no annex of named designations — those are issued by OFAC under separate determinations.

On 30 April 2026, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, imposed a £165,000 monetary penalty on Deutsche Bank AG London Branch (DBLB) for breaching regulation 12 of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. DBLB processed two payments totalling £635,618.75 in June and July 2022 to Okko LLC, a Russian streaming-platform operator wholly owned by sanctioned entity JSC New Opportunities. The breach arose because DBLB's third-party sanctions-screening provider failed to identify that Okko had become majority-owned by the designated entity post-listing. DBLB voluntarily disclosed the breach to OFSI in September 2022, qualifying for a 45% reduction from the £300,000 baseline penalty. This is the second resolution under OFSI's new Settlement Scheme (introduced February 2026) and the first involving a major investment-bank counterparty.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative released the 2026 Special 301 Report on 30 April 2026, designating Vietnam as a Priority Foreign Country (PFC) — the most severe category under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2242). This is the first PFC designation since Ukraine held the status from 2013 through 2015, a gap of approximately 11 years. The PFC designation triggers a statutory 30-day window (expiring ~30 May 2026) within which USTR must decide whether to initiate a Section 301 investigation under 19 U.S.C. § 2412(b)(2)(A), which could lead to tariffs, withdrawal of trade benefits, or other Section 301 enforcement remedies against Vietnam. Separately, the EU was added to the Watch List for the first time, citing AI training-data, geographical-indications, and customs-enforcement concerns.

Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) issued Circular nº 33 on 29 April 2026, confirming a preliminary affirmative determination of dumping and material injury to the Brazilian domestic industry in imports of hot-rolled stainless steel flat products (thickness 2–50.8 mm, coils and sheets, NCM 7219 and 7220 headings) from China, India and Indonesia. Preliminary dumping margins are 50.1% (China), 25.3% (Indonesia) and 17.9% (India). Despite the affirmative finding, DECOM exercised discretion not to impose provisional anti-dumping duties at this stage, citing case complexity, the three-origin scope and the volume of submitted information; the final determination is scheduled for 25 November 2026.

Minister of Trade Regulation No. 12 of 2026, signed by Trade Minister Budi Santoso and effective on its date of promulgation (29 April 2026), is the fifth amendment to Permendag 23/2023 on Export Policy and Regulation. It introduces a new discretionary authority — distinct from administrative sanctions — for the Director General of Foreign Trade to suspend issuance of, freeze, and revoke Business Licensing in the Export Sector (Perizinan Berusaha di Bidang Ekspor), and to suspend verification / technical-tracing services. Crucially, it institutionalises cross-ministerial initiating authority: other ministries and agencies may formally propose suspension / freezing / revocation, with proposals reviewed in coordination meetings convened under the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs or the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs. Decisions are issued via INATRADE / SINSW with automated notification to exporters. The stated rationale is protecting national interests, public welfare, government-programme implementation, and presidential directives — operationalised as safeguarding domestic supply of "certain goods" (palm oil, rice, sugar, mineral, and fertiliser categories cited in policy framing).

The Council of the EU renewed the Myanmar/Burma restrictive measures framework for a further 12 months through 30 April 2027 via Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/927 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/926, both adopted 27 April 2026. The regime remains substantively unchanged: asset freezes, travel bans, and service prohibitions on 105 individuals and 22 entities, including junta-linked actors with documented involvement in mineral resource extraction (Myanmar Mining Enterprise No. 1 and No. 2). This is the first EU Myanmar sanctions action filed in the IPTM register; the parallel US programme (EO 14014 / 31 CFR Part 525) targeting the same mining enterprises is tracked under the us-burma-sanctions-perimeter theme.

India and New Zealand signed their first bilateral Free Trade Agreement on 27 April 2026 in New Delhi. New Zealand grants duty-free access to 100% of Indian exports from day one, while India eliminates tariffs on ~95% of New Zealand exports — covering kiwifruit, apples, meat, wool, coal and forestry products — with core dairy (butter, cheese) carved out and milk albumins receiving a 50% tariff cut under quota. Negotiations launched in March 2025 and were concluded in 9 months. The package includes a NZ commitment to invest USD 20 billion in India over 15-20 years and ~5,000 annual Indian work visas for IT, engineering, healthcare, education, construction, traditional medicine, yoga and culinary professions; bilateral trade is targeted to double to USD 5 billion within five years. The agreement is signed but not yet in force pending ratification.

On 23 April 2026, the Council of the European Union adopted the 20th package of restrictive measures against Russia, anchored by Council Regulation (EU) 2026/506 amending Regulation 833/2014 (sectoral sanctions) and Council Regulation (EU) 2026/511 amending Regulation 269/2014 (asset-freeze listings — 120 additional individuals and entities, the largest single tranche in two years). The package operationalises and extends the crypto-sanctions architecture introduced in the 19th package and constructs the legal scaffolding for a future full prohibition on maritime services to vessels carrying Russian crude/petroleum products. Headline measures: (i) full sectoral prohibition on transactions with crypto-asset service providers and exchange platforms established in Russia or Belarus, plus designation of the rouble-backed stablecoin RUBx and the digital rouble (CBDC) on Annex LIII — effective 24 May 2026, with EU support for the digital rouble's development banned outright; (ii) 36 new energy-sector listings spanning upstream extraction, refining and transportation; (iii) prohibition on providing technical, financial, brokering and insurance services to Russia-flagged, Russian-certified or Russian-managed LNG tankers and icebreakers effective 25 April 2026, extending to foreign-flagged vessels operating in Russian interests by January 2027 and culminating in a categorical ban on LNG terminal services to Russian-controlled entities on 1 January 2027; (iv) full transaction ban on 20 Russian banks plus four third-country banks listed for SPFS connectivity / sanctions circumvention; (v) 46 newly listed shadow-fleet vessels and new tanker sale-due-diligence obligations on EU shipping operators; (vi) 58 designations of companies and associated individuals in the Russian military-industrial complex including drone developers/manufacturers; (vii) further Annex IV third-country circumvention enabler listings (China, Hong Kong, Turkey, UAE); (viii) parallel measures against Belarus. Entry into force on 24 April 2026 (day following publication in OJ L_202600506), except for measures with explicit deferred application dates.

On 21 April 2026, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal issued a final injury finding in Inquiry NQ-2025-005, determining that the dumping of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) originating in or exported from Mexico, the Philippines, Türkiye, and South Korea has caused material injury to the domestic Canadian steel industry. Anti- dumping duties are payable on imports released by CBSA on or after 21 April 2026 and remain in effect for five years. The US investigation was terminated separately.

President Tokayev signed Decree U2600001233 on 15 April 2026, formally adopting the Strategy for the Development of the Nuclear Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2050. The 30-year framework marks a structural pivot for the world's largest uranium producer (~45% of global mined supply) from a raw-ore export model toward domestic nuclear-energy sovereignty, targeting at least three operational NPPs by 2050 (a fourth under assessment), 5% of national electricity from nuclear by 2035, and 50% combined nuclear and renewables by 2050. The strategy mandates SMR evaluation for regional deployment, a 1% R&D levy on uranium miners' production costs through 2030, and the development of a Kazakh "nuclear cluster" producing high-value fuel-cycle goods and services rather than raw uranium concentrate alone.

FinCEN issued an amendment to its June 30, 2025 special-measure order (90 FR 27770) that had prohibited US covered financial institutions from transmitting funds to or from CIBanco S.A., a Mexican multiple-banking institution previously designated as of primary money-laundering concern in connection with illicit-opioid trafficking. Effective April 16, 2026, the amendment authorizes transmittals of funds ordinarily incident and necessary for the Government of Mexico to liquidate CIBanco. The carve-out is narrow: the broader §2313a prohibition on US-side correspondent activity with CIBanco remains in force outside the liquidation channel.

Premier Li Qiang signed State Council Order No. 835 on 13 April 2026 promulgating the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Countering Foreign States' Unlawful Extraterritorial Jurisdiction" (20 articles), effective on the date of publication. The Regulations are the first State Council–level administrative regulation to operationalise the PRC's framework for identifying and countering foreign extraterritorial measures on a horizontal basis, complementing the 2021 Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and the March 2025 AFSL implementation regulations. Article 5 establishes a State Council–led inter-agency coordination mechanism; Article 6 vests the State Council legal affairs department (the Ministry of Justice in practice) with authority to identify "improper" foreign extraterritorial measures and to grant exemptions; Article 8 authorises a new Malicious Entity List targeting foreign organisations and individuals that "promote or participate in implementing" such measures, with nine countermeasure categories spanning visa denial, asset freezing, trade restrictions and fines; Article 11 codifies an exemption-application channel under which Chinese persons facing conflicting legal demands may request approval to comply with foreign measures within a defined scope; Article 14 authorises a private right of action for harmed Chinese citizens and organisations to sue parties enforcing such measures; and Article 18 elevates enforcement beyond administrative penalties by referencing potential criminal liability.

The Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration published a Federal Register notice on 10 April 2026 (91 FR 18412, doc 2026-06952) opening the inaugural Call for Proposals for the American AI Exports Program established under Executive Order 14320. Proposals are accepted from 1 April 2026 through 5:00 pm EDT on 30 June 2026 from US industry-led "pre-set" consortia offering full-stack American AI export packages — AI-optimised hardware, data pipelines, AI models and systems, security and cybersecurity measures, and sector-specific applications — for presentation by the US government to foreign public- and private-sector buyers. Designated consortia receive priority US-government advocacy, priority consideration for export-control licence engagement, interagency coordination, and federal-financing referrals (EXIM, DFC), with a 14-business-day completeness review and 60-calendar-day designation decision once a proposal is deemed complete.

Presidential Decree No. 193, signed by President Vladimir Putin on 25 March 2026 and in force from 1 May 2026, prohibits the export from Russia of refined gold bars (аффинированное золото в слитках) with a total weight exceeding 100 grams by individuals, legal entities, and individual entrepreneurs. Narrow exceptions apply for EAEU-destination and non-EAEU-destination movements through designated international airports (Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Knevichi/Vladivostok) conditional on Federal Assay Office or Federal Border Service permits. The stated rationale — curbing shadow-economy use of bullion as a foreign-currency substitute and closing capital-flight channels — is analytically inseparable from the broader post-2022 Russia counter-sanctions context and the G7 / LBMA delisting of Russian-origin gold.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on 17 March 2026 that TradeStation Securities, Inc. agreed to pay $1,110,661 to settle 481 apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 560), the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 542), and the Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 589) that occurred between 21 June 2021 and 15 June 2022. The violations arose from a mobile-platform software update that inadvertently caused the firm's second-tier geo-blocking to screen the IP address of a U.S.-located server rather than the user's IP, allowing customers in Iran, Syria, and Crimea to execute securities-related transactions. OFAC determined the apparent violations were non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed, resulting in a significantly reduced settlement amount.

Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) opened a formal antidumping investigation via Circular nº 18 (12 March 2026) into imports of machined graphite electrodes (NCM 8545.11.00, diameter ≥ 350 mm) from China and India, following a petition by GrafTech Brasil Participações Ltda (subsidiary of NYSE-listed GrafTech International / EAF). DECOM's preliminary assessment found indicative dumping margins of 54.9% for Chinese-origin and 57.3% for Indian-origin electrodes. The investigation covers assembled and unassembled electrodes used in electric-arc-furnace steelmaking, ferroalloy smelting, and metal-oxide reduction. A definitive antidumping duty of up to five years may result if DECOM confirms material injury and issues a positive final determination.

On 12 March 2026 the UK Cabinet Office (Investment Security Unit) published its Government Response to the consultation on reform of the Notifiable Acquisition Regulations (NARs) under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 — the first major substantive overhaul of the NSI mandatory-notification schedules since the regime took effect on 4 January 2022. The reform splits Critical Minerals out of the existing Advanced Materials schedule into a standalone mandatory schedule covering all 34 minerals on the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre's latest criticality assessment; splits Semiconductors into its own standalone schedule (capturing advanced packaging and specific chip-design processes); creates a brand-new Water sector schedule covering the 17 regional water and sewerage undertakers in England and Wales; refocuses Artificial Intelligence on entities that create or materially modify AI systems (excluding routine end-use); and refines Communications, Critical Suppliers to Government, Data Infrastructure, Energy and Suppliers to Emergency Services to reduce low-risk capture. An implementing Statutory Instrument is expected later in 2026; the existing NARs remain in force until that SI takes effect.

FinCEN issued an expanded Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) requiring money services businesses (MSBs) located in designated counties and ZIP codes across Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) on cash transactions between $1,000 and $10,000 — well below the standard $10,000 CTR threshold. The order took effect March 7, 2026 and runs through September 2, 2026; the FR notice (FR Doc. 2026-04641) was published March 10, 2026. The expansion adds Bernalillo, Doña Ana, and San Juan Counties in New Mexico and Maricopa and Pima Counties in Arizona to the geography covered by the prior September 10, 2025 GTO. Compliance date for newly-covered MSBs is April 6, 2026; reports must be filed within 30 days (extended from the standard 15-day CTR deadline). The instrument is part of the post-2024 US enforcement architecture targeting fentanyl-related illicit-finance flows through the US-Mexico border MSB channel.

Sultan Haitham bin Tariq issued Royal Decree 39/2026 on 1 March 2026, published in the Sultanate of Oman Official Gazette Issue 1638 on 8 March 2026 (effective the following day), enacting a new Statute of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) and consolidating the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates under the unified OPAZ regulatory umbrella. The Statute restructures OPAZ's institutional architecture for administering Oman's 23 special economic zones, free zones, and industrial cities, expands OPAZ's supervisory and oversight powers — including project registration, licensing, permits, approvals, certificates, regulation of municipal services within zones — and mandates a single-window platform consolidating the full suite of zone-related services for investors. The decree is the institutional-governance complement to the substantive SEZ/FZ framework established by Royal Decree 38/2025 and operationalises the Vision 2040 economic-diversification strategy at the binding regulatory-authority layer, covering RO 22.4 bn (~USD 58 bn) in cumulative committed investment across the OPAZ-administered zone network.

On 1 May 2026 the trade pillar of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (the "Interim Trade Agreement", iTA) entered provisional application between the European Union and the four Mercosur states — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — following its publication in the EU Official Journal on 27 February 2026 alongside the broader EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA). The iTA covers goods (eliminating duties on more than 90% of bilateral trade over a transition period including immediate cuts on cars, pharmaceuticals, wine and olive oil), services, government procurement at federal and state level, intellectual property (344 EU geographical indications protected), SPS/TBT disciplines, and a sustainability chapter. Mercosur receives tariff-rate quotas on agri-food exports (beef, poultry, sugar, ethanol, honey). Provisional application proceeds pending full ratification of EMPA by the Council, European Parliament and all EU national parliaments and a pending CJEU opinion; only the trade pillar applies provisionally.

On 25 February 2026 the Swiss Federal Council adopted extensive amendments to the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (Ukraine Ordinance) and the Ordinance on Measures against Belarus, completing implementation of the EU's 19th sanctions package with effect from 26 February 2026. Headline measures: a complete ban on the purchase and import of Russian LNG taking effect 25 April 2026 (transition period until end-2026 for pre-existing long-term contracts); a complete prohibition on the provision of crypto-asset services to Russian persons and companies; new service bans covering advanced-technology / AI / high-performance-computing services and tourism-related services; expansion of the dual-use end-user list (Annex 2) including additional Chinese entities; SECO authority to grant divestment-exemption licences until end-2026 under Art. 30a; and parallel adoption of the EU October 2025 Belarus measures via amendment to the Belarus Ordinance.