Sovereignty
Brazil's minerals council can meet in ten days. Its first tax credit lands in 2030.
Lei 15.506 was sanctioned without vetoes on September 16 and the CIMCE decree was signed at the same ceremony. The PFMCE credits run 2030 to 2034. One day earlier the data center law was sanctioned with the rule on what may power the machines pushed to a portaria carrying no deadline.
Brasilia closed both of Brazil's open AI files in 48 hours. They point opposite ways.
The Senate passed the data center tax regime on September 1 and the critical minerals policy on September 2. Both sit with Lula now. One zeroes import tax on compute hardware. The other would create a council attached to the Presidency that homologates who is allowed to buy a mining title.
Ottawa claims review power over a lithium mine it does not host
Canada issued a national security notice over the sale of an Argentine lithium project to a Chinese buyer. The asset is in Salta. The jurisdictional hook is the seller's Canadian listing, and that hook reaches Brazil.
Indonesia Wrote the Rare Earth Ban and Forgot the Number
About a hundred cargoes of alumina, copper cathode and nickel derivatives sat at Indonesian ports because Jakarta banned rare earth exports without defining how much rare earth counts. Brazil, China and the United States all wrote that number years ago.
Washington asks Brazil to gate its critical mineral asset sales
The US has asked Brasilia to restrict sales of critical mineral assets, per a July 21 report. Brazil, holder of roughly 90 percent of world niobium, is keeping a multi-buyer stance that still includes China.
The 167-day clock: China hardens rare earth controls as Brazil's R$15 billion bet hits the table
China's draft enforcement framework closes for public comment May 28, six months before two separate suspensions expire. Brazil's BNDES is racing the same calendar.