A daily trade-policy roundup: a Prisoners Defenders report says Cuba forces 60,000 inmates to produce charcoal sold mainly to Spain at a 99.96% state margin, while Dutch exports to the U.S. fell 4.7% in the first ten months of 2025. Argentina plans to cut industrial export taxes, and El Salvador and Ivory Coast are also repositioning their trade and carbon-market policies.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has authorised mining companies to resume cobalt exports through a December 2 interministerial circular, ending the most restrictive phase of a policy that began with a full ban in February 2025. Kinshasa is pairing quotas with plans to build strategic stocks in a bid to take pricing power over the battery metal away from China.
Colombia will lift import duties on Ecuadorian goods to 100% after Quito raised its own tariffs on Colombian imports to the same level from May 1. Bogota says the measures breach the 1969 Cartagena Agreement and has begun legal action, deepening a dispute rooted in drug-trafficking and border security tensions.
TotalEnergies has signed an agreement to export 2 Mtpa of liquefied natural gas for 20 years from the Alaska LNG project, according to TotalEnergies.com. The long-term offtake commitment brings a major buyer to a venture that has struggled for years to advance.
In its April 2026 monthly review, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air says the G7 oil price cap has not imposed a durable limit on Russian crude earnings, with ESPO trading well above the cap. An EU maritime services ban that would target export volumes is on hold after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz spiked global oil prices.
Malaysian palm oil futures fell more than 1% on Monday as export demand weakened and April production was seen rising. The benchmark FCPO July contract closed down 62 ringgit at 4,535 ringgit per tonne, with exports off 15.7-17% month-on-month.
Aluminum prices fell as the geopolitical risk premium tied to recent Middle East tensions unwound, according to Finimize. The move points to lower input costs for importers and thinner margins for producers whose recent gains rested on risk rather than fundamentals.
Turkey's textile industry is pushing for a free trade agreement with the United States to offset market share it is losing in Europe to Chinese and Indian rivals, according to Türkiye Today. Industry body ITHIB says a deal could lift Turkish textile exports to the US from $792 million to $1.32 billion within two years.
Vietnam's exports reached $122.9 billion in Q1 2026, up 19.1% year on year, according to FiinGroup data reported by Vietnam Investment Review. Electronics and machinery made up about half the total, with machinery shipments to the US surging 88.7% to overtake electronics.
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry has rejected US forced-labor allegations as "completely false" and warned that a proposed American tariff endangers Indian textile shipments. India exported USD 36 billion in textiles and clothing last year, of which about USD 11 billion went to the United States.
China's combined textile and apparel exports edged up to roughly $67 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to Fibre2Fashion. Garment shipments declined year on year, while exports of yarns, fabrics and related textile products rose on stronger downstream manufacturing across Asia.
Global apparel brands adopting a China+1 sourcing strategy could help India recover textile export share it lost over the past 15 years, according to Moneycontrol. The shift reshapes sourcing decisions for importers weighing capacity, cost and supply diversification.
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