GTA Monthly Roundup: July 2026

WASHINGTON, 6 AUGUST 2026 —

Headline: GTA Monthly Roundup: July 2026 Lead: This Roundup sums up the 1'008 trade and industrial policy developments documented by the Global Trade Alert team during July 2026. The report provides a geographic analysis of these developments, with a focus on the United States, China, and the European Union. It highlights four trends: the US turned Section 301 from a country-specific remedy into a duty regime; Washington gave old status new wo Body: This Roundup sums up the 1'008 trade and industrial policy developments documented by the Global Trade Alert team during July 2026. The report provides a geographic analysis of these developments, with a focus on the United States, China, and the European Union. It highlights four trends: the US turned Section 301 from a country-specific remedy into a duty regime; Washington gave old status new work; ownership becoming central to industrial policy; and governments funding the semiconductor supply chain. The Global Trade Alert team documented 1'008 trade and industrial policy developments during July 2026. Four trends emerge: The United States turned Section 301 from a country-specific remedy into a duty regime covering 60 economies. USTR concluded its forced-labour investigations on 24 July. Duties of 10% or 12.5% apply across four rate categories. Five economies pay the rate inclusive of their MFN duty. The other 55 pay it in addition. Each rate follows the partner's own import legislation, not the scale of its trade with the United States. Washington gave old statutes new work. The president used Section 338 for the first time to impose duties on Canada. He also used Section 101 of the Defense Production Act to allow for export controls on critical-minerals scrap. Ownership stakes are becoming a standard feature of industrial policy. The US Department of Commerce signed CHIPS letters of intent worth USD 874m with seven compute-supply-chain firms. The United Kingdom took British Steel into public ownership under the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Act 2026, removing Jingye Group as owner. Five Chinese subnational governments launched funds worth USD 3.3bn, investing through direct equity stakes. The Canada Growth Fund put USD 282.9m into Teck Resources to expand production capacity. The EIB committed up to USD 1.4bn to a fund of funds for European scaleups. Governments funded specific semiconductor supply-chain positions, from optics and memory architectures to packaging and laminates . India approved Semicon 2.0, a USD 13.2bn programme spanning design, fabs, materials and packaging. US Commerce signed CHIPS letters of intent covering co-packaged optics for AI processors, ferroelectric AI memory, and advanced chip packaging. Japan pledged up to USD 998m to Tower Semiconductor Japan for a production expansion. Germany granted USD 403.9m for a silicon carbide epi-wafer plant and USD 245m to Vishay Siliconix Itzehoe. Thailand approved two copper-clad laminate plants worth USD 369.4m, one serving AI servers. The GTA Monthly Roundup provides a rapid overview of changes in import barriers, export curbs, subsidies, and related industrial policy measures. It is organised by geography, beginning with the United States, China and the European Union. The final section briefly summarises developments in further regions covered by the GTA. Links to official sources are included in the references. The United States concluded its Section 301 investigations into forced-labour imports and levied additional tariffs on Brazilian and Canadian goods. Washington also expanded CHIPS Act funding, authorised future export restrictions on recoverable critical minerals, revoked its authorisation for Iranian petroleum trade, and tightened procurement rules for defence-critical materials. The GTA team documented 143 new interventions during the last four weeks. The Administration used section 101 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to authorise future adoption of export restrictions on recoverable critical minerals and materials . Specified goods include black mass, end-of-life products, rare-earth permanent magnets, and other waste and scrap containing critical minerals. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revoked transactions involving carrier vessels . As a result, no new loading of Iranian origin crude oil, petrochemical products, or petroleum products is authorised on or after 7 July 2026. The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) concluded its Section 301 investigations into 60 economies' failure to prohibit imports of forced-labour goods, imposing ad valorem duties of 10% and 12.5%. The duties were effective as of 24 July 2026 and structured across four rate categories. Economies that ban forced-labour imports, that committed to such a ban in an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, or that operate a partial regime now pay 10%. This affected seventeen economies, among them the United Kingdom , Argentina , Mexico and Cambodia . The European Union and Chinese Taipei also qualify for 10%, applied net of a product's most-favoured-nation duty. Japan, South Korea and Switzerland receive the same net-of-MFN treatment at 12.5%. The remaining 38 economies, including Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua , pay the flat 12.5% rate. USMCA-compliant goods and standard exemptions (Section 232 goods, informational materials, donations) do not incur the duty. The USTR also concluded its Section 301 investigation into Brazil, leading to an additional 25% tariff on essentially all Brazilian goods . USTR retained the proposed rate but broadened exemptions, adding pig iron, aluminium hydroxide, iron and steel scrap, certain wood products, and certain seafood. The action took effect on 22 July 2026. The President also issued three proclamations imposing additional 50% ad valorem duties on Canadian goods under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. All three enter into force on 19 August 2026 and exclude articles already subject to Section 232 duties. The broadest covers 439 tariff lines of agricultural and industrial products . A second targets 52 lines of dairy products, sugars, syrups, and protein derivatives . The third covers 63 lines of alcoholic beverages and related goods . Each action responds to a specific Canadian policy. The Federal Communications Commission added foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotic devices to its Covered List, effective 28 July. Listed products can no longer receive new FCC equipment authorisations, which prevents new device models from being marketed or sold in the United States . Section 232 produced… (AI-assisted rewrite, based on the original source)

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