U.S. EPA will propose reallocating 100% of the difference between projected and actual small refinery exemption volumes in the 2026 and 2027 obligations.

The APEC Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) held its second plenary of 2026 in Dalian, China. Delegates reviewed regional agencies’ annual reports, current SCSC projects and new proposals, with substantive discussions on standards and conformity assessment for artificial intelligence and clean energy aimed at providing institutional safeguards for trustworthy AI deployment and wider clean‑energy adoption. Parallel workshops covered the silver economy, cross‑border e‑commerce, road transport and voluntary sustainability standards. APEC member economies praised China’s SCSC chairmanship and agreed to deepen policy dialogue and project cooperation to implement meeting outcomes.

Australia July private-sector lending y/y 8.4% (prev 8.5%).