The U.K. and India began negotiations on a new free trade agreement at an event in New Delhi, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said Jan. 13. Cementing what it dubs its "5-star year of trade," the DIT laid out the agreement's potential benefits: doubling trade with India by 2030, which was already valued at over $31.5 billion; cutting duties on British products such as Scotch whisky and cars; and boosting the U.K.'s green industries. "A deal with India is a golden opportunity to put UK businesses at the front of the queue as the Indian economy continues to grow rapidly," International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a statement. "By 2050 India will be the world’s third largest economy with a middle class of almost 250 million shoppers. We want to unlock this huge new market for our great British producers and manufacturers across numerous industries from food and drink to services and automotive."

The U.K. updated its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida and South Sudan sanctions regimes in a pair of financial sanctions notices. For its South Sudan sanctions list, the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entry for Paul Malong Awon Anei, chief of general staff of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The U.K. also updated its ISIL information on the Consolidated List to reflect the changes made by the United Nations to its ISIL sanctions list, adjusting the entries for 62 individuals and entities.

Seven countries not in the European Union aligned themselves with the EU's recent sanctions decisions regarding Belarus, Syria and human rights violations, the European Council said. Concerning Belarus' actions to amass migrants at the EU border, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway aligned with the EU's decision to amend the listing criteria used to impose sanctions. They agreed to conform their national policies with the EU decisions.

The European Commission gave notice Jan. 13 of the impending expiry of the antidumping duties on barium carbonate from China, unless a review of the duties is initiated. European Union manufacturers can submit a written request for a review up to three months before the Sept. 29 expiration date.

The U.K. issued compound penalties to exporters that shipped unlicensed strategic exports on 10 separate occasions between March and November 2021, the Department for International Trade said Jan. 10. Ranging from around $1,362 to $73,450, the fines concerned unlicensed exports of dual use goods, military goods and related activity, the notice said. The highest fine was in July 2021 when an exporter was fined $73,450 over offenses "in relation to the export of military rated goods without the appropriate license."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that she expressed strong support for Lithuania "in the face of economic coercion" during a call with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis Jan. 7, and that the European Union and U.S. should work together to address coercive economic tactics "through various avenues, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council" (see 2201060034). The readout of the call also said they discussed steel and aluminum excess capacity. The U.S. replaced its tariffs on EU exporters in those sectors with tariff rate quotas that will last five years; it is Europe's goal to return to trade as it was before the Section 232 action.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she's ready to trigger Article 16 if talks over Northern Ireland with the EU fall through. In an opinion piece in The Telegraph, Truss said that to resolve the impasse, she may override parts of the post-Brexit agreement that impose a de facto customs border down the Irish Sea, making trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. more difficult. Truss is meeting her EU counterpart Jan. 13, and used her Telegraph piece to lay out her priorities.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, after speaking with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis Jan. 5, said that the U.S. supports Lithuania as it faces economic coercion from China, and that the U.S. wants to work with the European Union "to address coercive diplomatic and economic behavior. They discussed the importance to addressing our shared challenges through a close, transatlantic partnership that embraces and reflects U.S. and EU jointly-held values, which can be supported in part through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council." China stopped allowing Lithuanian goods to enter China after Lithuania publicly supported Taiwan's independence (see 2112090012).

U.K. exporters reached deals worth nearly $95 million due to trade shows in South Korea sponsored by the Department for International Trade, the DIT said. Exports to South Korea from the U.K. jumped 9% in the June year-over-year comparison. The trade shows were part of DIT's Pavilion showcase series, which includes stalls set up for U.K. companies to show off their goods, DIT said. Companies that credit these shows as leading to deals with South Korean firms include Ceres Power, Intelligent Energy and Survitec.

The European Commission this week released an updated list of dual-use items and an updated correlation list between certain European Union tariff codes and goods that are subject to dual-use export restrictions. The updated list includes nine parts covering goods ranging from nuclear materials to electronics to aerospace and propulsion products, and the updated correlation list includes thousands of product codes.