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

On June 17, 2026, at the margins of the G7 Évian summit, Prime Minister Carney and Chancellor Merz issued a bilateral joint statement committing Canada and Germany to a critical-minerals stockpiling partnership with capital investments to be concluded by end-2026. The statement also launches a joint supply chain mapping initiative to identify priority battery-value-chain opportunities, with a specific named project — RCT Solutions (DE) + Sio Silica + Manitoba partners — targeting the extraction and integrated solar manufacturing of 99.9%+ purity silica sand. It builds on the August 2025 CA–DE Declaration of Intent (which established the supply-chain mapping framework and business missions) and extends the relationship into binding capital-deployment commitments.

NEDO, under METI's Green Innovation Fund, launched the "Next-Generation Tandem Solar Cell Mass Production Technology Demonstration Project," a JPY 153.3 billion (maximum; JPY 123.2 billion committed for the initial three-year phase) programme running fiscal 2025-2030. Two companies — Kaneka Corporation and Aisin Corp — were selected, each holding mass-production plans exceeding 500MW by fiscal 2030 for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. The programme targets conversion efficiency above 30% and a residential generation cost below JPY 12/kWh, aimed at establishing high-yield, high-throughput manufacturing processes ahead of anticipated global scale-up.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded a AUD 25.3 million grant to Sydney-based startup SunDrive Solar to scale and commercialise its copper-metallisation solar cell technology at its Kurnell (New South Wales) facility, taking the process from R&D toward a 300 MW commercial-scale production line. The technology replaces silver — the metallisation material used in conventional solar cell manufacturing — with copper, a direct response to silver prices having nearly tripled over three years while the solar industry now consumes roughly a third of global industrial silver supply. The grant builds on an earlier AUD 14 million ARENA award and is delivered under the Advancing Renewables Program, with equipment partners Maxwell and Vistar supporting production-tool development, cost modelling and module testing.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced up to AUD 45 million in funding for Fortescue's Solar Innovation Hub, a 500 MW test bed within Fortescue's 1.5 GW solar PV development pipeline at the Cloudbreak Solar Farm in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The funding uses a portfolio structure covering up to 10 individual demonstration projects under one agreement, including Built Robotics' automated pile-driving technology and 5B's rapid-deployment Maverick solar system, aimed at cutting installed solar costs and supporting ARENA's Ultra Low-Cost Solar goal of 30% module efficiency at 30 cents/watt installed cost by 2030. Global Trade Alert logged the grant as a trade-distorting subsidy to Fortescue's solar manufacturing and deployment activity.

Italy's state investment agency Invitalia approved a "Contratto di Sviluppo" (Development Contract) worth EUR 103.7 million in total investment for Italian Green Factory SpA (Tea Tek group), of which EUR 67 million is Invitalia state aid (financial grant plus state loan) on eligible costs, with a further EUR 29 million routed through the Fondo di Garanzia PMI (SME Guarantee Fund). The package reindustrialises the former Whirlpool site in Naples and a second plant in Pomigliano d'Arco for photovoltaic (solar) component production, plus two smaller R&D projects (predictive diagnostics for electrical transformers/panels; walkable solar installations for road infrastructure). The plan commits to retaining 294 previously-displaced Whirlpool workers and adding 55 new hires (349 total).

NEDO, Japan's national R&D funding agency, newly adopted three companies under the "Next-Generation Solar Cell Demonstration Project" of the Green Innovation Fund, allocating JPY 37.8 billion in support across fiscal 2024-2030 (7 years). The selected companies each hold commercialisation plans at 200-300MW scale by 2030, targeting mass-production technology and field demonstrations of perovskite solar cells (rooftop and building-facade installations, domestic and international). The programme's broader goals are 20GW of perovskite deployment by 2040 and a generation cost of JPY 14/kWh, aimed at strengthening Japan's competitiveness in solar manufacturing.

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published İthalatta Gözetim Uygulanmasına İlişkin Tebliğ (No: 2023/2)'de Değişiklik Yapılmasına Dair Tebliğ in Resmî Gazete on 17 July 2025, doubling the unit customs (CIF) reference value that triggers the country's import-surveillance mechanism for photovoltaic cells not assembled into modules or panels (GTİP 8541.42.00.00.00), from USD 85/kg to USD 170/kg. Imports declared at or below the new threshold require a "gözetim belgesi" (supervision certificate) from the Imports General Directorate before customs clearance. The amendment entered into force sixty days after publication, on 15 September 2025. Global Trade Alert logs the intervention as "certainly harmful" and names China and Cambodia as the principal exporters affected. The measure does not block imports outright but raises the price floor below which a licensing/documentation step is triggered, functioning as a de facto minimum-price barrier against underpriced photovoltaic-cell imports — part of a broader push to protect Türkiye's domestic solar-manufacturing base as it scales toward the National Energy Plan's 52.9 GW installed-solar target.

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade published Tebliğ No. 2025/10 in the Official Gazette (No. 32910) on 25 May 2025, opening an anti-dumping investigation into aluminium frames for photovoltaic panels (GTIP 8541.90.00.00.11) originating from China, following a petition by the Turkey Aluminium Manufacturers Association (TALSAD) on behalf of Arslan Aluminium, Lazer Solar Energy Aluminium Systems, and Pantech Aluminium. On 13 December 2025 the Ministry imposed provisional anti-dumping duties (Tebliğ No. 2025/41, Official Gazette No. 33106) ranging from 14.79% to 31.40% of CIF value, varying by named Chinese exporter, with a residual "all others" rate of 31.40%.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded up to AUD 46 million to Australian solar technology company 5B under Round 1A of the Solar Sunshot Program, the first funding decision under the AUD 1 billion program. The award comprises up to AUD 26 million in production credits tied to Australian-based manufacturing of 5B's "Maverick" prefabricated, prewired solar deployment system, plus a AUD 20 million capital grant for technology design improvements. The funding is intended to expand 5B's Adelaide manufacturing capacity to at least 200 MW of Maverick units per year over three years and is expected to cut the company's Australian production costs by 25%.