The European Commission gave notice Jan. 18 of its decision to conduct an expiry review of the antidumping duties on sodium gluconate from China, following a request from French company Jungbunzlauer SA. European Union manufacturers can submit written comments over elements of the investigation within 37 days of the notice's publication. The review period runs Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021.

The European Union extended the antidumping duties on grain-oriented flat rolled products of silicon-electrical steel (GOES) from China, Russia, the U.S., Japan and South Korea for another five years, the European Commission said. The decision to extend the duties came after the commission conducted an expiry review and found that a lapse in the duties would amount to serious harm to EU GOES producers. The AD measures will continue to be implemented as a minimum import price, above which imports will be allowed to enter the EU without any antidumping duties. If the import prices are below this level, the commission will set the AD rates at the difference between the import price and the minimum import price, up to a maxim range of 21.5% to 39%. "The measures will thus continue to ensure a level playing field for EU GOES producers while providing stable supply on the import side of high quality GOES, needed in particular for the production of premium quality transformers, generators and motors," the commission said.

Liquefied natural gas terminal developer Hanseatic Energy Hub has delayed the development of a proposed LNG terminal in Germany amid large price swings, Bloomberg reported. Danielle Stoves, commercial and regulatory director for Hanseatic, said the company decided to hold off on a key step toward a final investment decision when it postponed offering transportation capacity to would-be consumers this month, Bloomberg said. Germany has proposed three LNG terminals in a bid to wean off Russian gas, and Hanseatic's delay is just one of many setbacks facing all three terminals. The plan for Hanseatic was to build an onshore storage and regasification unit with 12 billion cubic meters a year of capacity. Hanseatic also said a final investment decision queued up for the first quarter of 2023 may also be shifted, Bloomberg said.

A group of non-European Union countries aligned themselves with a series of EU sanctions decisions, the European Council said in several news releases. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Georgia adopted the EU's decisions to extend its Syria sanctions regime until June 1 and update the information for a listed individual. Montenegro, Albania, Norway and Ukraine aligned themselves with the EU's December decision to amend the list of individuals and entities subject to the sanctions regime relating to actions undermining the territorial independence of Ukraine.

The European Union will host a stakeholder meeting Feb. 8 to discuss reforming investment dispute resolution, which includes establishing a multilateral investment court, the European Commission said. The meeting's goals are to "update stakeholders on the latest developments in this area at the EU and international level and to exchange views on the latest relevant EU policy developments," the commission said. The meeting will be conducted virtually. Registration to attend ends Feb. 1.

The European Union extended its economic sanctions targeting certain economic sectors in Russia relating to the situation in Ukraine for another six months, until July 31, the European Council said Jan. 13. The sanctions were initially imposed in 2014 following Russia's failure to fully implement the Minsk Agreements that were negotiated to end fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine. As part of this sanctions regime, the EU has also imposed individual restrictive measures in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol along with its destabilization efforts toward Ukraine.

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.