Government Regulation
June 10, 2026
Regulatory Burden on New Home Construction
Regulatory costs jump 40% in five years driving up housing costs
By Larry Adams
June 9, 2026 | 9:18 am CDT
WASHINGTON – A new study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) finds that regulations at the federal, state and local levels add $131,734 to the cost of a new single-family home—26.4% of the average sales price of $499,500 as of January 2026.
Breaking down the total regulatory costs further, the study revealed that $84,939 of the final house price is the result of costs incurred by the builder due to regulation during the construction phase of the home while $46,795 is attributable to regulation during land development.
“This study illustrates how excessive regulation is deepening the nation’s housing affordability crisis and making it harder for builders to deliver the affordable, attainable housing that our nation sorely needs,” said NAHB Chairman Bill Owens, a home builder and remodeler from Worthington, Ohio. “Policymakers should remove unnecessary and costly regulations that are pricing buyers out of the market and slowing construction of new homes and apartments.”
Although the share of regulation in the land development phase fell from 10.5% in 2021 to 9.4% in 2026, the construction phase increased by nearly four percentage points, rising from 13.3% to 17.0%, largely because of higher building permit fees and changes to building codes over the past decade. Based on U.S. Census home price data, regulatory costs for the average new home increased from $93,870 in 2021 to $131,734 in 2026—an increase of more than 40% in about five years.
Over the same period, U.S. disposable income rose just 18.3%, meaning that regulatory costs are increasing more than twice as fast as consumers’ ability to pay.
April 9, 2026
MDI Anti-dumping Rates Finalized
US announced final anti-dumping duties on MDI imported from China
April 9, 2026 1 min read
On April 8, 2026, The US Department of Commerce announced that it has issued its final affirmative anti-dumping determination on methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) from China, imposing duties of 85.11% on major producers and 159.04% on others, a sharp reduction from preliminary rates. The final ruling sets a dumping rate of 85.11% for producer and exporter Covestro Polymers (China) Co., Ltd., producer Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd., and its exporter Shandong Mingko Co., Ltd. All other Chinese producers and exporters received a rate of 159.04%. The products involved fall under US Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers 2929.10.8010 and 3909.31.0000.
These final rates represent a significant reduction from the preliminary dumping duties of 376.12% to 511.75% announced in September 2025.
The US initiated the anti-dumping investigation on MDI from China on March 4, 2025, and issued its affirmative preliminary determination on September 16, 2025.
March 22, 2026
China Responds to Record Trade Surplus
China vows more open economy in bid to boost confidence
ByLiam Mo and Ryan Woo
March 22 2026 – 8:00am
China has faced tensions with major trading partners over its record $A1.7 trillion trade surplus. Photo: EPA PHOTO
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has pledged to further open up the economy and fully implement national treatment for foreign enterprises as the country seeks to reassure the outside world amid rising global trade tensions.
China will import more high-quality foreign goods and work with all parties to promote optimised and balanced trade development and expand the global trade pie, Li told the China Development Forum in Beijing, state media reported on Sunday.
The annual two-day forum, which concludes on Monday, allows Beijing to lay out its economic vision and investment opportunities to foreign business leaders, Chinese officials, economists and academics.
This year’s gathering comes as the world’s second-largest economy faces rising tensions with major trading partners over 2025’s record $US1.2 ($A1.7) trillion trade surplus.
Premier Li Qiang says China is committed to being a “harbour of stability” for the world economy. (EPA PHOTO)
Challenges for Beijing are aplenty, including deflecting concerns from an increasing number of global capitals about China’s trade practices and overcapacity, as well as their overreliance on key Chinese products.
While Li’s speech did not appear to directly mention the surplus, his pledges indicate an awareness that the issue could disrupt international relations at a time when China has reached a temporary truce with the US on trade.
US President Donald Trump last week postponed a trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping due to the Iran war, delaying an effort to ease tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
In a separate speech at the forum, China’s central bank governor Pan Gongsheng also sought to alleviate concerns surrounding the trade surplus.
“Analysing global economic imbalances requires looking not only at trade in goods but also services, and not only at the current account but also the financial account,” Pan said, according to a transcript of his speech published by the People’s Bank of China, adding that China is the country with the largest goods surplus but also the largest services deficit.
China has no need and no intention to gain trade competitive advantage through currency depreciation, Pan said.
Senior executives attending include those from Apple, Samsung Electronics, Volkswagen, chipmaker Broadcom Inc, industrial conglomerate Siemens, chemical producer BASF and pharmaceutical firm Novartis.
There were no Japanese company executives on the guest list on the forum’s website.
said foreign firms would be treated in the same way as domestic ones, allowing enterprises from all countries to develop with confidence and realise their ambitions in China.
In a separate meeting, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told business leaders from a US pharmaceutical trade group and executives from five major multinational drug companies that China would strengthen intellectual property protection and improve policy transparency.
Australian Associated Press
March 22, 2026
IEEPA Duties Refund System
CBP has provided another update to the U.S. Court of International Trade on the development of its new ACE-based refund system for IEEPA duties, known as CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries).
While progress is being made, the system is still under development and not yet ready for deployment.
Latest Development Status
As of March 19, CBP reports the following progress:
- Claim Portal: 73% complete (testing underway)
- Mass Processing: 45% complete (validations and tracking in development)
- Review & Liquidation/Reliquidation: 80% complete (now in testing phase)
- Refund Processing: 63% complete (including refund consolidation functionality)
According to CBP, the system is now moving into more advanced testing phases, which are required before it can go live.
What This Means for Importers
Once operational, CAPE will allow importers and brokers to:
- Submit refund requests directly through a new ACE portal interface
- Have IEEPA tariffs automatically removed and duties recalculated
- Receive consolidated refunds at the importer level, including applicable interest
CBP also confirmed it is building functionality to track processing history and validate entries, which may impact which entries are eligible in early phases of the rollout.
Key Takeaway
Although progress continues, this update confirms that the refund system is still several weeks away from being fully operational.
In the meantime, importers should continue preparing by:
- Reviewing entries that may be eligible for refunds
- Ensuring ACE accounts are properly configured
- Completing ACH refund setup to avoid delays once payments begin
February 18, 2026
EU ADD on BDO
EU adds hefty anti-dumping duties to 1,4-butanediol
By Anthony King17 February 2026
Imports from China, US and Saudi Arabia will see tariffs of 52–143%
The European Commission has introduced massive antidumping duties on imports of 1,4-butadiene (BDO), an important intermediate molecule in chemical manufacturing. The provisional duties are 106–114% on all imports originating in China, 52% for all imports from Saudi Arabia and 136–143% on all imports originating in the US.
Source: © Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock
1,4-butanediol is a key intermediate and component of in various coatings, polymers and solvents
‘This is a step change in the EU ramping up its defenses against dumping,’ says Richard Carter, an independent consultant to the chemical industry and former BASF manager. ‘My hope is that this is the start of a more aggressive stance.’
The commission’s 70-page report sets out the evidence and decision to impose duties. BDO is used in various coatings, polymers and solvents. Four companies generate BDO in the EU directly, employing around 500 staff in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. The volume of imports from the three named countries increased from around 49,000 tonnes in 2018 to around 89,000 tonnes in 2024, an increase of 82%. Ineos (one of the four EU producers) has filed a raft of antidumping cases with the European Commission, including for BDO.
The problem, says Carter, is the buildup of massive overcapacity in China, allowing Chinese producers set prices that others must follow. Chinese capacity is now nine times larger than the EU, he adds. ‘This is part of an onslaught to dominate western chemical markets, in my view,’ says Carter. ‘Trade flows show that European producers have almost switched off their plants and are bringing in BDO from their own facilities in the US.’
Ineos has also filed complaints for polyvinyl chloride, monoethylene gylcol, terephthalic acid, butyl acetate and polyolefins. In a past statement, it complained about the staffing levels and the response times in the commission’s antidumping investigations.
Anti-dumping investigations typically run for 12 to 15 months. ‘It will take 3-6 months for the provisional duties to be applied, then another 6-9 months for the final duties to be applied, if passed,’ says Mohamed Chilmeran, petrochemical analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
Parties told the Commission that EU industry was simply not competitive enough due to its high costs, but this was rejected. The industry was profitable in 2021 and 2022. ‘The root cause of the injury was increasing volumes of dumped imports from the countries concerned,’ said the report, ‘which depressed BDO prices to levels which did not permit the Union industry to recover its costs and increased the cost of production per unit of the Union from lower sales and production levels.’
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