February 10, 2026. Last week, the US convened a Critical Minerals Ministerial summit attended by 54 countries and the European Union, including Australia. Critical minerals are needed for batteries, semi-conductors and other essential components of the transition to renewable energy and for digital technology and defence industries. China currently dominates production and processing and sets prices on the global processing market.

February 6, 2026: The World Trade Organization’s deepening crisis has major consequences for trade, climate policy and global governance. As legal scholar Jane Kelsey argues in an article in The Conversation, the United States’ hostility to multilateral constraints long predates Donald Trump, but has now become openly coercive.

February 4, 2026: Coupang, a US-listed e-commerce platform, disclosed a major data breach in late 2025 that South Korean authorities say exposed the personal information of tens of millions of users. The prompted investigations by multiple regulators, enforcement actions, and parliamentary hearings, with officials warning that sanctions could include the suspension of Coupang’s business licence.

February 2, 2026: Shell has formally initiated an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case against the Netherlands over the closure of the Groningen gas field, following a similar move by ExxonMobil. The case marks a significant escalation in the long-running dispute over responsibility for the costs and liabilities associated with winding down one of Europe’s largest gas projects.

January 27, 2026: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has won plaudits for calling on “middle powers” to defend a values-based global order as the United States retreats from multilateralism under Donald Trump. Speaking in Davos, Carney argued that a legitimate international system must uphold human rights, environmental protection and national sovereignty.

January 21, 2026: The Motion Pictures Association (MPA), which represents major Hollywood studios and platforms, has called on the US government to launch so-called Section 301 investigations into Australia and Canada over proposed and existing local content rules, arguing they unfairly target American streaming services. 

This occurred during the US Congress’ Trade Subcommittee Hearing on Maintaining American Innovation and Technology Leadership on 13 January. These investigations can lead to retaliatory measures such as tariffs or other trade penalties.

January 20, 2026: US President Donald Trump has warned he could impose tariffs on countries that oppose his push for the United States to annex or buy Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Trump said trade measures could be used to advance what he has framed as a national security priority. 

January 20, 2026: DFAT called for these submissions as part of its Southeast Asian strategy to broaden and diversify trade relations in the region.The AFTINET submission advocates for the need to assert alternatives to Trump coercive trade policies and comments broadly about what should be included and excluded from trade agreements. The government should implement its policy on including commitments to UN and ILO agreements, including women’s and Indigenous peoples’ rights, labour rights and environmental standards in trade agreements and on excluding ISDS, expansion of medicine monopolies and restrictions on government regulation of the digital domain. Read the full submission here.

January 15, 2026: Brook Baker argues in the Malaysian Star that  the recent US trade deal restricts the rights of Malaysia’s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), to conduct its own assessments of safety, efficacy and quality, reflecting national health needs and regulatory priorities.

January 12, 2026: US President Donald Trump’s January 7 memorandum ordering the United States to withdraw from 66 international organisations marks one of the most sweeping retrenchments from multilateral institutions in modern US history, with significant implications.