The DRC government reinstated a ban on copper concentrate and cobalt concentrate exports on August 6, sending copper to an all-time price record; the move follows the 2026 DRC cobalt quota and fits a pattern of resource-export nationalism in mineral-rich states following Indonesia on nickel and Zimbabwe on lithium. Chinese smelters dependent on DRC concentrate face immediate sourcing disruption; the ban is a reinstatement of an earlier restriction rather than a novel policy.
Twenty-five US states filed suit in the US Court of International Trade on August 3, asking the court to block the latest round of Section 301 tariffs imposed on more than 80 trading partners; California's attorney general cited harm to consumers and businesses, and the states cited a recent US Supreme Court ruling in support of their challenge. The suit targets the administration's use of Section 301 as a broad trade lever rather than the narrower trade-remedy purpose for which it was enacted. The Canada retaliatory-tariff clock runs to approximately August 19.
China's commerce ministry restricted drone exports to the United States and blacklisted six US entities on August 5, calling the measures a restrained response to US forced-labor and national-security sanctions; Beijing warned further countermeasures remain available. The move followed US tariffs on China and 59 other countries imposed days earlier, and expanded the trade confrontation from semiconductors and rare earths into unmanned aerial vehicles. The same day, a US FCC proposal to ban Chinese optical modules in AI data-centre networks drew fresh Chinese condemnation: see US proposes restricting Chinese optical modules in AI infrastructure; Beijing condemns 'bullying' tech curbs as Xi-Trump summit approaches.
The US Agriculture Department suspended avocado inspection from Mexico's Michoacán state on August 5 after armed threats against USDA inspectors; Mexico's trade confederation Cocena framed the suspension as leverage to force Mexico into USMCA compliance obligations it is not currently meeting; without US inspection, Michoacán avocados cannot enter the US market legally. A prior 2024 suspension followed physical attacks on USDA personnel. The US-Mexico USMCA review round 3 remains unresolved.
Pakistan and Iran reaffirmed a US$10 billion bilateral trade target and said their Free Trade Agreement is progressing toward conclusion at Islamabad talks on August 4; Iran proposed expanding logistics through Karachi and Gwadar. The talks run against the backdrop of the Iran-US ceasefire framework and the August 17 MOU deadline.
India, holding the BRICS chair in 2026, hosted the bloc's Trade and Investment Ministers in Jaipur on August 7-8; Indonesia's Trade Minister called for a rules-based trading system to support MSMEs and backed WTO reform over a bloc-led alternative; Indonesia endorsed the outcome document covering MSMEs, supply chains, and digital trade; no other BRICS member's position is yet confirmed in the feed.
China's customs bureau reported exports rose 23% year-on-year in US dollar terms in July, beating forecasts, while imports climbed 27.5%; the trade surplus came in at US$112.5bn, above estimates; CNBC attributed the surge to AI-linked tech demand; SCMP added that higher chip prices were a driver and that the surplus actually narrowed from June; CGTN framed the story in yuan cumulative terms as "sound growth" rather than a monthly tariff-rush beat; Chinese exporters front-loaded shipments ahead of the new 12.5% US tariff levy that replaced a temporary 10% rate in July. China's NBS manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 in July, below expansion threshold for the first time since Q2; domestic demand slumped. The US banned research collaborations with 88 Chinese universities, with China vowing "necessary measures." US-Mexico USMCA review round 3 remains unresolved. A 25% US tariff on Brazilian goods took effect July 22. The IEA warned China's rare-earth export curbs put US$6.5 trillion of downstream production at risk.
[SHEIN cut its warehouse footprint near Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City from 15 to 6 hectares and laid off thousands of workers in August 2026, ending a year-long experiment to route shipments through [vietnam as a workaround for US tariffs on Chinese goods; the US de minimis rule change, applied to all countries not just China, removed the cost advantage that made the detour worthwhile.]] Japan Times described the structural damage to Vietnam's export-hub logic as industry-wide, not company-specific. SHEIN is refocusing on its Chinese supply chain ahead of a planned Hong Kong IPO.
Watch: whether the US Court of International Trade grants an emergency injunction on the Section 301 tariffs; Canada retaliatory-tariff decision before August 19; China fiscal stimulus timing; Brazil's WTO filing; Pakistan-Iran FTA finalisation timeline; whether Greer-Mexico talks produce sector-level arrangements; whether USDA restores Michoacán inspections or the suspension becomes a formal USMCA compliance action; which six US entities China blacklisted and whether the drone controls affect US military supply chains; whether the planned Xi-Trump September summit addresses the drone and optical-module restrictions.
