Industrials Regulatory News and Trends - September 19, 2025

Welcome to Industrials Regulatory News and Trends. In this regular bulletin, DLA Piper lawyers provide concise updates on key developments in the industrials sector to help you navigate the ever-changing business, legal, and regulatory landscape.

Proposed EPA rule would end the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The EPA has announced a proposed rule that would eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), under which numerous industrial facilities across the US are required to provide annual reports to the agency on their emissions of CO2, methane, and other GHGs. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated of the proposed rule that it advances President Donald Trump’s “Unleashing Prosperity through Deregulation” agenda; the data gathered under the GHGRP, he continued, “has no material impact on improving human health and the environment.” The change would end emissions reporting requirements that have been in place since 2010 for about 8,000 American facilities, such as steel mills, oil refineries, and coal-burning power plants. It has been reported that, among the data’s uses, it is relied on by private companies seeking to demonstrate the success of their emissions strategies to investors, and it is used to inform federal policy decisions. Of note: emissions reporting requirements for certain industrial facilities required by Congress under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, such as natural gas pipelines, would remain in place – but the EPA would allow in-scope facilities to postpone their reporting until 2034. Ending the GHGRP would reportedly create uncertainties for a federal program that offers tax credits to companies that capture and sequester their CO2 emissions. To qualify for those tax breaks, companies are required to report their emissions data to EPA. A comment period on the proposal will be open for 47 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

EPA will reconsider CTC risk-management rule. On September 12, the EPA announced that it will reconsider the final risk-management rule for carbon tetrachloride (CTC) under the Toxic Substances Control Act, CTC is widely used as a solvent in the manufacture of refrigerants and certain agricultural products. The rule, finalized in December 2024, establishes workplace safety requirements for most conditions of use. The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is currently hearing consolidated legal challenges to the rule. In a press release, the agency stated that it has requested that the court hold these cases in abeyance while it develops a new rule considering changes to workplace exposure limits. Of note: that reconsideration process itself is subject to the court’s approval. To start the reconsideration process, EPA intends to open a comment period on the final rule in the coming weeks.

EU bans gel nail polishes containing TPO. The European Union has banned the use of the chemical trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide (TPO) in gel nail polishes. The ban became effective September 1, 2025. TPO is used in gel polishes as a photoinitiator – it helps polishes harden under LED or UV light, making them glossy and durable. The European Commission, however, has classified TPO as a “reproductive toxicant” following animal studies. The move to ban TPO is precautionary, given insufficient data about its effect on humans. Under the ban, nail salons across the EU are required to immediately dispose of any products containing TPO, and products containing TPO should no longer be sold, supplied, or used in the EU and should be withdrawn from the European market. Similar restrictions are expected to go into effect in the United Kingdom in 2026.

US manufacturing jobs. A new analysis from the think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) reports that, overall, 42,000 US manufacturing jobs have been lost since April 2025, 12,000 of those in August alone. Wages have also fallen, the analysis states: between March and April, for instance, US manufacturing workers’ average hourly earnings declined by eight cents, the first month-to-month decline in manufacturing wages since February 2022, and have remained sluggish since then. CAP also points to the Bureau of Labor Statistics July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary, observing that in July hiring rates and job openings for the manufacturing sector were 3.3 percent and 2.5 percent lower, respectively, than the 4.3 percent and 3.3 percent rates across all industries.

Sole US manufacturer of magnesium files for Chapter 11. U.S. Magnesium LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington. The company is the largest producer of primary magnesium in North America and the sole producer of the critical mineral in the US. The filing comes in the wake of a years-long dispute over environmental concerns arising from the company’s operations in Rowley, Utah. In August this year, after the Salt Lake Tribune reported that the company and Utah regulators were at an impasse, Jamie Barnes, Director of Utah Forestry, Fire & State Lands, announced that the department was seeking to terminate the company's leases to operate in the state. In a statement, U.S. Magnesium said it had entered bankruptcy to "provide a framework to preserve the value of our business, honor our commitments to employees and partners, [and] continue our longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship while being a key domestic supplier of critical minerals for many years to come."

Chinese exports to Africa soar. Data released by the Chinese government on September 8 indicates that, to date this year, China has exported USD141 billion of goods to Africa while importing USD81 billion of African products. This USD60 billion trade surplus for the first eight months of the year already exceeds that of all of 2024. The New York Times reports that the surge in Chinese exports to Africa is particularly apparent in clean energy products, such as solar panels; steel, with exports from China to Africa climbing almost 30 percent above 2024; shipbuilding and construction machinery, agricultural equipment; and an array of consumer products. A notable example of the latter: exports of Chinese automobiles to Africa have already risen 67 percent this year compared to all of 2024. Chinese smartphones already dominate the African market, representing 80 percent of phones sold across the continent.

BYD plans to expand European presence with local manufacturing. This month, Chinese automaker BYD shared plans to begin manufacturing electric vehicles in the EU for the European market. The company is currently constructing a new factory in Hungary, which is expected to become operational later this year. BYD is also developing a facility in Turkey that is scheduled to begin production in 2026. Stella Li, BYD’s executive vice president, stated that the company expects sales of its plug-in hybrid vehicles in Europe to surpass those of its fully electric vehicles within the next two years.