The European Commission on July 18 began accepting public comments on future safeguard measures covering the steel sector with the goal of locating an "effective replacement for the current EU safeguard on steel," which is set to expire on June 30, 2026. Stakeholders have until Aug. 18 to comment on the potential safegaurd measures, the commission said. Following the consultation period, the commission will issue a "Staff Working Document" to accompany the commission's legislative proposal, which will include an "economic model that analyses different scenarios and their effects on the EU steel supply chain."

The Council of the EU on July 18 formally adopted new valued-added tax rules that will make foreign suppliers liable for VAT paid on imports. "The directive will improve collection of VAT on imported goods by ensuring suppliers are always liable for VAT paid on imports, rather than the EU consumer as is currently usual practice," the council said. "This should encourage suppliers outside the EU to use the bloc's "VAT import one-stop-shop," which is the EU's point of contact for importers of goods from third countries into the EU. The directive will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will enter into force 20 days later. The rules will apply starting July 1, 2028.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation last week launched new online forms for submitting license applications and reporting suspected violations or frozen assets. The agency said the new forms will help modernize and streamline OFSI's services and "make it easier for you to provide the information we need and to help us respond more quickly and efficiently."

The latest EU sanctions package against Russia, adopted last week, lowers the price cap on Russian oil, introduces more import and export restrictions and designates a range of vessels and companies helping Russia move energy products and evade sanctions.

The EU opened arbitration proceedings with Algeria under the EU-Algeria Association Agreement, claiming that Algeria's trade and investment restrictions violate the agreement.

The European Commission on July 14 imposed definitive antidumping duties on multilayered wood flooring from China, ranging from 21.3% to 36.1%. Specifically, the duties cover wood flooring that's made of several layers of wood veneer glued or bonded together. They were imposed following an investigation finding that dumped Chinese flooring imports were harming the EU industry.

The European Commission on July 11 imposed definitive antidumping duties on lysine from China. The duties range from 47.7% to 58.2% and were imposed following an investigation that showed that dumped imports of Chinese lysine are harming the EU industry. Lysine is an "essential amino acid for human and animal health," the commission said, noting that synthetic lysine is used in animal feed, pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements.

The U.K. fined a British exporter $1,160,725.67 pounds (about $1.57 million) for violating sanctions against Russia, the country’s Revenue and Customs agency announced July 8. The penalty represented the largest settlement ever issued by the U.K.’s customs agency for a Russia-related sanctions breach. The exporter “made goods available to Russia in breach of” the sanctions, the U.K. said, but it provided no further details.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, urged China to lift its export curbs on rare earths and asked it to stop allowing its companies to support Russia’s military industrial base.

The U.K.’s National Crime Agency published an alert last week to make companies aware of sanctions evasion by Russian shadow fleet vessels, including red flags they should be monitoring and steps they can take to alert U.K. authorities.