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

On 21 May 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) at its 473rd plenary session adopted a final affirmative anti-dumping determination against PVC paste resin (PSR) imports from Germany, France, Norway and Sweden, recommending definitive five-year duties of 25.79–31.55% to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) for formal imposition via customs notification. The case was initiated in July 2025 following a complaint by Hanwha Solutions Corp., and provisional duties of 25.79–42.81% have been in effect since February 2026; the final rates represent a notable reduction from the provisional upper bound. The KTC concluded that PSR dumping from the four European countries caused tangible injury to Korea's domestic chemical industry.

On 12 February 2026 the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) concluded a preliminary investigation into Chinese-origin butyl acrylate imports (HS subheading 2916.12) and voted to recommend provisional anti-dumping duties of 9.53–19.17% to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF). MOEF formally decided and gazetted the provisional duty on 22 April 2026, effective from that date through 21 August 2026 pending the KTC's final determination (expected around July 2026). The case was initiated after LG Chem — the sole remaining domestic butyl acrylate producer — petitioned the KTC in July 2025, citing a roughly 25% rise in Chinese import volumes against a 30%+ drop in its own domestic sales volume between 2021 and 2024.

Brazil's Câmara de Comércio Exterior (Gecex) approved Resolução nº 848, de 29 de janeiro de 2026, amending Annexes IV (supply-shortage tariff reductions), V (Letec exceptions list) and VI (LEBIT/BK — IT/telecom and capital-goods exceptions list) of the base tariff-nomenclature resolution (Gecex nº 272/2021). The measure grants a new 0% duty-free tariff-rate quota of 2,500 tonnes/year for poly(oxyethylene) methallyl ether (HPEG, NCM 3907.29.92) through 26 November 2026; adds 0% duty treatment for an esketamine hydrochloride nasal-spray medicine (NCM 3004.90.39) and several pharmaceutical active ingredients including amprenavir and efavirenz (NCM 3004.90.78); and adds cellular base-station antennas (NCM 8517.71.20, 25,000-unit quota through 19 August 2026), diesel-electric locomotives (NCM 8602.10.00, through 25 February 2027) and panoramic maxillary X-ray equipment (NCM 9022.13.11, at a 12.6% rate) to the LEBIT/BK exceptions list. Most changes take effect 1 February 2026 (some 2 February 2026); Article 7 directs SECEX to publish complementary quota-allocation criteria.

The European Investment Bank agreed to lend up to EUR 300 million to German specialty-chemicals group ALTANA to finance research and development of lower-emission, lower-VOC and critical-substance-free coatings, adhesives, additives and effect pigments over 2025-2028. The facility is split into two tranches (EUR 100 million available from December 2025, EUR 200 million to follow in Q1 2026) and is delivered under the EIB's TechEU initiative. EIB framed the loan around strengthening European industrial competitiveness and keeping German and European specialty-chemicals producers at the technological frontier.

The Nordic Investment Bank signed a EUR 50 million, 10-year loan with Kemira Oyj on 17 October 2025 to co-finance construction of a new commercial-scale biomaterials production facility in Finland, with total project cost of roughly EUR 130 million. The plant will manufacture bio-based alpha-glucans using an engineered polysaccharide and plant-sugar technology platform developed with International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) under a partnership dating to 2020, supporting Kemira's push toward EUR 500 million in renewable-material revenue by 2030. Global Trade Alert logs the loan as a "red"-flagged state-linked lending intervention.

The European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1045 of 12 May 2026, imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of certain alkyl phosphonic acids and their sodium salts originating in the People's Republic of China — specifically 2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4- tricarboxylic acid (PBTC) and its sodium salt (Tetrasodium hydrogen 2-phosphonatobutane-1,2,4- tricarboxylate, PBTC-Na4), in solid form or aqueous solution, falling under CN code 2931 49 80. Provisional duties range from 182.9% to 219.4% depending on the exporting producer. The measure entered into force on 14 May 2026, the day after publication in the Official Journal, and follows an investigation initiated on 18 September 2025 pursuant to a complaint lodged on 7 August 2025 by LANXESS Deutschland GmbH. PBTC is a scale-inhibitor/chelating agent used in industrial water treatment, oilfield services and detergent formulation.

DGFT Notification No. 19/2025-26, issued 17 June 2025 under sections 3 and 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992 and the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, reclassifies all of Customs Tariff Heading (CTH) 2843 — colloidal precious metals, inorganic or organic compounds of precious metals, and amalgams of precious metals, covering gold, silver, platinum, rhodium and palladium forms (ITC-HS codes including 28431010 colloidal gold, 28431020 colloidal silver, 28432100 silver nitrate, 28433000 gold compounds, 28439011 sodium aurous thiosulphate, 28439012 noble-metal solutions, and 28439020 amalgams) — from "Free" to "Restricted" import status. Importers now require DGFT prior authorisation per consignment; the stated purpose is to close a route for importing gold disguised as chemical compounds. Genuine industrial and manufacturing users (electronics, electrical, and specialised chemical industries) remain able to import against an authorisation, so the measure targets bullion arbitrage rather than input-supply continuity. It was issued the same day as, and as a companion measure to, DGFT Notification No. 18/2025-26 (gold-bearing PGM alloys, CTH 7110), filed separately as 2025-06-17-india-dgft-pgm-alloys-import-licensing.

The European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4 on 17 December 2024, imposing definitive five-year anti-dumping duties on imports of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) originating in China, published in the OJ on 9 January 2025. Duty rates are differentiated by Chinese exporter: €0.25/kg for Anhui Jinhe Star (Gold Star), €0.74/kg for Lomon Billions Group and all non-cooperating exporters, and €0.64/kg for other cooperating producers — converting the provisional ad-valorem duties (14.4%–39.7%) imposed by CR 2024/1923 in July 2024 into specific definitive measures covering CN codes 3206 11 00 and 3206 19 00. China filed WTO dispute DS636 in April 2025 challenging the measure.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) on 8 February 2022 to add 33 persons — all based in China — to the Unverified List (UVL) under EAR §744.15(c), on the basis that BIS could not satisfactorily complete end-use checks for these entities for reasons outside US Government control. Placement on the UVL bars exporters from using any EAR license exception when shipping controlled items to listed parties and requires exporters to obtain a certified UVL Statement from the entity or secure a BIS export licence. Sectors represented include semiconductor manufacturing equipment, optoelectronics, UAVs, specialty chemicals, and biotechnology.