Canada has escalated its trade dispute with China, announcing an additional 25% surtax on imports containing Chinese-melted and poured steel, effective by the end of July. The move, which Ottawa says aims to boost supply chain transparency and prevent circumvention of existing trade measures, drew swift condemnation from Beijing.

Last week, Beijing updated its export control catalog to include critical technologies for battery cathode materials and refined lithium extraction, potentially adding new regulatory hurdles for international companies dependent on Chinese advanced material processing and broadening its strategic grip on global supply chains.

A WTO arbitration body set up to hear an appeal of a WTO panel report that examined Chinese "anti-suit injunctions" has reversed the panel on a key substantive issue, finding that China's policies are inconsistent with the WTO's TRIPS Agreement. This ruling puts the

U.S. solar manufacturers have filed new antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) petitions on solar products from India, Indonesia, and Laos, with one of the allegations being that Chinese companies previously producing in China, and then later in four Southeast Asian nations, have now shifted production to Indonesia and

This past week, CTM covered the following issues: * Chinese graphite exports * Report on foreign-invested enterprises in China * U.S. anti-dumping determination on processed graphite * New Section 232 cases on polysilicon and unmanned aircraft systems (drones) * Chinese government submissions in ongoing Section 232 cases * Trump administration orders divestment of Chinese acquisition

In a decision issued today, the U.S. Department of Commerce made a preliminary determination in an anti-dumping (AD) duty case involving imports of processed graphite from China, an input used in battery production.

While U.S. Section 232 national security investigations of imported products are mostly political exercises, there is nevertheless an opportunity for interested parties to submit their views, and the Chinese government has been doing so in the various investigations that are currently underway.