The European Parliament on Oct. 3 voted to pass the bloc's proposed Anti-Coercion Instrument, which will allow EU to impose countermeasures, including tariffs and other trade and investment restrictions, on third countries for economic coercion (see 2306060019).
The U.K. updated its Russia sanctions guidance to add additional licensing grounds with the aim of divesting from Russia, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. The guidance says that, for divestment purposes, a license may be granted to provide oil refining goods, energy-related goods, luxury goods, jet fuel and "Russia's vulnerable goods" in Russia or to someone linked with Russia. The licensing grounds also cover the provision of technical assistance, brokering services, financial services or funds related to the oil refining goods, energy-related goods, jet fuel and Russia's vulnerable goods.
The European Commission appointed Miranda de Meijer of the Netherlands to be a new prosecutor in the European Public Prosecutor's Office. De Meijer is a former public prosecutor and criminal lawyer, most recently serving as a senior advocate-general at the Netherlands' Public Prosecution Service. Her term as a European prosecutor will run for six years beginning Nov. 1 and is nonrenewable. The European Public Prosecutor's Office investigates and prosecutes crimes pertaining to the EU's financial interests, including fraud, corruption and major cross-border value-added tax fraud.
Trade attorney Julia Kuelzow has moved from Kelley Drye, where she worked as an associate, to Fenwick & West, where she now works as a trade and national security associate, per a notice at the Court of International Trade. At Fenwick, Kuelzow's practice centers on export controls and sanctions, shifting from her trade remedies work at Kelley Drye. Prior to working at Kelley Drye, Kuelzow served as a law clerk at CIT and as a junior dispute settlement lawyer at the World Trade Organization, according to her LinkedIn page.
China condemned the Treasury Department's additions of 28 entities, including various Chinese entities, on the Entity List for their acts violating U.S. national security. The U.S. "abuses unilateral sanctions" to undercut international trade rules, hinder normal trade exchanges and curb the "legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," the Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation.
China and the EU held the "10th EU-China High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue" on Sept. 25, discussing the effect of Russia's war in Ukraine on global economics, food and energy security. Also discussed were "EU concerns on access to the Chinese market," prospects for rebalancing the EU-China trade relationship "on the basis of transparency," and predictability and reciprocity, the European Commission said.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai laid out her priorities for reforming the World Trade Organization, providing concrete options that the U.S. and other WTO members can take to reinvigorate the international trade forum. In a Sept. 22 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Tai said that the biggest tenets of WTO reform revolve around "improving transparency," rebuilding the body's ability to negotiate new rules for new challenges and dispute settlement reform.
The EU General Court on Sept. 20 rejected Russian businessman Alexey Mordashov's application to annul his sanctions listing, according to an unofficial translation. The court said the EU didn't err in finding that Mordashov is an influential businessman in sectors of the Russian government, rejecting his challenges to the process, reasoning and proportionality.
Ukraine filed dispute cases at the World Trade Organization against Hungary, Poland and Slovakia concerning their bans on Ukraine's agricultural exports, the country's Ministry of Economy announced, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said the three nations' "unilateral ban" violates the countries' international obligations.
China will appeal a World Trade Organization panel ruling rejecting its claim that the retaliatory tariffs placed on the U.S. in response to Section 232 duties were justified, the country's Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 19, according to an unofficial translation. Beijing will appeal "into the void" seeing as the Appellate Body currently doesn't function, barring future enforcement action against China in the dispute.