The United Kingdom wants a long transition period to phase in tariff cuts for agricultural products in any post-Brexit trade agreement with Australia, Bloomberg reported May 21. Such a period, which could be as long as 15 years, would aim to aid British farmers. The U.K. and Australia in April announced an agreement to most elements of a proposed free trade deal and said negotiations could be completed by June (see 2104230072).
The United Kingdom is recruiting an external adviser to point out new opportunities following the nation's departure from the European Union, Bloomberg reported May 17. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is struggling to demonstrate the benefits of Brexit, especially as a task force to identify how the U.K. can reshape its economy has yet to make a suggestion, the report said. Financial services regulation, changes to agricultural subsidies and clinical drug trial fast-tracking are all areas the government is looking to bolster with the help of the adviser, Minister for EU Affairs David Frost said. Additional areas of focus include subsidy control, procurement rules and freeports.
The United Kingdom is set to implement a new tariff suspension scheme, giving importers the chance to request a drawdown or withdrawal of duties, the Department of International Trade announced in a May 20 news release. Companies in the U.K. or Crown Dependencies will be able to place their requests for the next month, the release said, and once a reduction or withdrawal is granted to a single company, all U.K. importers will be able to use the new rate. The idea is to "allocate suspensions based on the needs of firms in the UK and the wider economy," the release said.
The United Kingdom should extend European Union safeguard measures on 10 product categories of steel imports for three years, Britain's Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate recommended in its Statement of Intended Final Determination May 19. After reviewing 19 categories of steel imports covered by existing trade remedies, TRID recommended the remaining nine remedies should be revoked. For each category, TRID conducted an “Economic Interest Test” to weigh damage the imported steel products are causing to domestic producers, economic significance of the affected industries, impact on certain geographic areas and likely consequences for the U.K. market's competitive environment.
The United Kingdom is preparing to kick off negotiations on trade deals with Canada and Mexico with the hope of expanding deals signed in 2020, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade announced in a May 18 news release. Last year's deals secured tariff-free exports from the U.K. on 98% and 88% of goods to Canada to Mexico, respectively, the release said. The expanded trade deal will have a stronger emphasis on industries such as digital, data and services and seek to bolster British jobs in car manufacturing and food and drink. The Department for International Trade is calling for input from concerned individuals, entities and other stakeholders on what the goals of the trade agreements should be.
The European Council is extending restrictive measures against cyberattacks until May 18, 2022, it said in a May 17 news release. With a current listing of eight individuals and four entities, the sanctions regime targets persons or entities that assist cyberattacks against the European Union or its member states. The restrictions include an asset freeze and travel ban and have been in place since 2017.
New European Union export controls on dual-use goods meant to promote human rights have the effect of shifting legislative authority from a member state's legislative body to its regulatory arm, Sheppard Mullin said in a May 14 analysis. Officially passed on March 26, the human rights export controls allow, among other things, a member state to impose a prohibition on the exports of items not on the Dual-Use Control List for human rights considerations. Subsequently, other member states are also prohibited from making unlicensed exports of these items if they have been notified by the appropriate competent authorities that the items are intended to be used for human rights violations. “In Member States whose legislation does not empower their licensing authorities unilaterally to impose export licensing requirements on new items, the Regulation effectively transfers legislative authority from one organ of Member State government (the legislature) to another (the export licensing authority),” Sheppard Mullin said.
Russia recently notified the World Trade Organization of draft amendments to certain food labeling regulations in the Eurasian Economic Union, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a May 12 report. The measure would “harmonize” certain EAEU labeling regulations with European Union requirements in terms of “indicating proteins, fats, carbohydrates and trans isomers of fatty acids,” USDA said. U.S. parties should send comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology at ncsci@nist.gov by June 9.
The Czech Republic will begin collecting value-added taxes on all import consignments beginning July 1, KPMG said in a May alert. The measure will eliminate a VAT exemption on imports of “low value,” KPMG said. It will also place more of a burden on buyers and sellers of e-commerce goods, who will have to “pay more attention” to which party is responsible for paying the VAT. Traders must determine whether a foreign good's price includes the import VAT, or whether the end customer will be responsible for paying the VAT. “Sellers of goods from abroad should therefore consider all possible options,” KPMG said, “and decide on the most appropriate and convenient collection of VAT on the import of goods for both themselves and their customers.”
The European Commission initiated an expiry review of the antidumping duty order on imports of certain ring binder mechanisms from China and extended it to Vietnam and Laos, the commission said May 11. Acting on the request of producer Ring Alliance Ringbuchtechnik GmbH, which called for the review on behalf of over 25% of the European ring binder mechanism industry, the EC will review entries of the subject goods in 2020 to determine if the antidumping duties should be extended. The product is currently classified under Combined Nomenclature code 8305.10.00.