In the April 17 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that beginning May 2, those who had property seized by the Cuban government after the Communist revolution can sue foreign companies "trafficking in property that was confiscated by the Cuban regime. Any person or company doing business in Cuba should heed this announcement," he said April 17. The right to sue foreign companies had been suspended for more than 20 years, and European diplomats warned Pompeo ahead of the announcement "the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures, such as the LIBERTAD Act, is contrary to international law." Trade Minister Cecilia Malmstrom said that if he went through with the plan to allow these lawsuits, the EU may launch a World Trade Organization case, and would allow EU companies to file counterclaims in EU courts against Americans bringing suit.

The executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's U.S.-UK Business Council, said that even a customs union would be more complicated for U.S. exporters than the status quo. Marjorie Chorlins was speaking with reporters on a conference call April 17. "The amendment proposing a customs union came very close to passing," she said, in response to a question from Export Compliance Daily. But exactly what would be included in the customs union could vary -- it does in Norway and Turkey, she said.

In the April 16 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union is imposing new antidumping duties on imports of urea and ammonium nitrate from the U.S., Russia, and Trinidad and Tobago, it said in a notice of its preliminary determination in the April 11 EU Official Journal. A provisional antidumping duty rate of 22.6% is now required on imports of the product by CF Industries Holdings, the sole U.S. exporter being investigated, as well as on urea and ammonium sulfate exported from the U.S. by all other companies. The new cash deposit rate takes effect April 11, though the EU may apply it retroactively as of March 22 (see 1903210046). That decision will be made at the final stage of the investigation.

In the April 11 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted (see 1904120033 for notices from April 12):

The European Commission created a list of about $20 billion in U.S. imports that it could raise duties on, according to an April 12 report from Reuters. The potential tariffs stem from a World Trade Organization dispute between the U.S. and the European Union over aircraft subsidies given Boeing. The U.S. had previously identified $11 billion in European imports that could be targets of retaliatory tariffs if the World Trade Organization authorizes that level of compensation in a similar WTO dispute over subsidies for Airbus (see 1904090057).

The European Council approved a negotiating mandate for trade talks with the U.S., but says it will not finish a free-trade agreement until the steel and aluminum tariffs on its member countries are lifted. The mandate, which was approved April 15, excludes agricultural trade from the talks.

In the April 12 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom recently put up two new webpages to help businesses get ready for importing and exporting with the European Union in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The checklists include guidance documents at each step with more detailed information on what new importers and exporters must do to keep trading with the EU after a no-deal Brexit. The EU and U.K. recently postponed the latter’s withdrawal from the EU until Oct. 31 (see 1904100077).