The EU initiated an expiry review of the antidumping measures into continuous filament glass fiber products from China, the European Commission announced April 21. The European Glass Fibre Producers Association requested the review, which covers "chopped glass fibre strands, of a length of not more than 50 mm; glass fibre rovings, excluding glass fibre rovings which are impregnated and coated and have a loss on ignition of more than 3 % (as determined by the ISO Standard 1887); and mats made of glass fibre filaments excluding mats of glass wool." The review will cover entries from Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2021.
The EU General Court upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the sanctions listings on former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his family members Gamal Mubarak, Alaa Mubarak, Heidy Rasekh, Khadiga El Gammal and Suzanne Saleh Thabet. The European Court of Justice had annulled the sanctions listings for Mubarak's family made in 2016 and 2017 and the 2018 listing of Mubarak himself. In March 2021, the EU reversed its Egypt sanctions, lifting restrictions on nine individuals. The General Court's April 6 ruling drops the sanctions imposed in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The court said it was unclear whether prior to implementing the sanctions, the European Council had fulfilled its duty to verify that the rights of defense and effective judicial protection were respected for the parties or that the council's actions were inadequate.
The U.K.'s more than $3.5 million fine of an unnamed British company over illegal exports of military goods (see 2204040020) lacks transparency, U.K. law firm Macfarlanes said in an April 19 post. The U.K.'s enforcement agency hasn't released any information about the violations that led to the fine despite it being the "largest penalty ever for breach of U.K. arms controls," the firm said.
Growing German demand for high-quality fish and seafood is set to present new opportunities for U.S. exporters, especially with the resumption of EU-U.S. shellfish trade this year (see 2202040010), the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 14 report. Although German imports are “traditionally dominated” by Alaska pollock, the agency said there are “good prospects” for a range of other U.S. fish, including salmon, hake, cod, scallops and dogfish. The report describes prospects for U.S. seafood exporters in the German market, import requirements and other trade data.
If Europe is unable to impose a complete embargo on Russian energy imports, it should at least consider an import tax to begin reducing European demand for Russian oil, said Andreas Goldthau, an energy policy expert and professor at the University of Erfurt. Goldthau, speaking during an April 14 event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association, said revenue from the tariffs could also help the EU source and distribute gas from other suppliers.
Germany’s recent takeover of Gazprom Germania GmbH, which was abandoned by Russia-based Gazprom in March, represents an “unprecedented” use of the country’s foreign direct investment screening regime, Cleary Gottlieb said in an April 12 alert. Germany seized control of the Russian company after Gazprom severed ties with the subsidiary last month, resulting in Germany’s Federal Network Agency acquiring full voting rights over Gazprom Germania GmbH, the law firm said. The government agency can “dismiss and appoint” members of the company’s management team, issue instructions and must authorize any disposal of company assets, the firm said.
The European Commission recently approved imports of genetically engineered crops of soybean, rapeseed and cotton, and it renewed a separate authorization for a cotton crop for “food and feed imports,” the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 12 report. The four crops, authorized March 31, have gone through a “comprehensive and stringent authorization procedure” and received a “favorable scientific assessment” from the European Food Safety Authority. The decisions apply to food and feed for import and processing and are valid for 10 years.
The U.K. revoked the General License for GEFCO under the Russian sanctions regime following the sale of Russian Railways' position in GEFCO, a joint venture between Russian Railways and Stellantis. The license permitted business operations with the joint venture or its subsidiaries, but after Russian Railways' sale of its stake on April 8, GEFCO is no longer subject to U.K. sanctions. Also on April 8, French shipping group CMA CGM announced it had acquired nearly 100% of GEFCO, an auto transport company.
The EU terminated the partial interim review of the antidumping duties on hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel from Russia, it said in an April 13 notice. In a notice to the European Commission, Eurofer, the party that moved to apply for the partial review, withdrew its request for review of exporter Severstal. The commission said the review was limited in scope to examining dumping for Severstal. The duties covered "imports of certain flat-rolled products of iron, non-alloy steel or other alloy steel, whether or not in coils (including ‘cut-to-length’ and ‘narrow strip’ products), not further worked than hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated."
The EU published a list of cooperating exporters that weren't sampled in the antidumping duty investigation on graphite electrode systems from China. The European Commission imposed the duties April 7 with duty rates ranging from 23% to 74.9% (see 2204070004). The commission's April 12 notice lists 24 cooperating exporters subject to the 74.9% "all-other companies" rate.