The EU this week adopted new trade measures to support Ukraine during its war with Russia, including a one-year suspension of certain import duties. The measures, announced May 24, will suspend duties on certain industrial products, fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products. The EU also will stop collection of antidumping duties on Ukrainian imports and suspend the application of the bloc’s common rules for imports for goods originating in the country. The measures will take effect one day after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a new general license authorizing certain activities, including purchases of tickets for flights or “rail journeys” originating in Russia. The license, issued May 23, authorizes those activities with sanctioned Russian entities PJSC Aeroflot, JSC Rossiya Airlines, JSC Ural Airlines, Russian Railways or any of their subsidiaries.
A group of tech industry associations released a statement May 16 to voice their support for an expansion of the Information Technology Agreement at the World Trade Organization. An expansion would see emerging technologies covered by the tariff-elimination elements of the pact and extend to areas of the globe not currently covered by the ITA, the statement said. Citing a study from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the trade associations said that expanding the ITA would add almost $800 billion to global GDP over the next decade.
The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council agreed to several export control and investment screening initiatives during the TTC’s second meeting in Paris this week, including measures to better harmonize export licensing decisions and share information on screening practices (see 2205130071). The U.S. and the EU said these measures will help both sides continue their “unprecedented cooperation on export controls” against Russia and urged the working groups to “implement concrete actions” before the next ministerial meeting.
Canada is seeking public comments on whether it should collect and publish country of melt and pour (COM) information for steel imports under the Canada’s Steel Import Monitoring Program. The public consultation period will help it “provide a better understanding of the use and value of this data for stakeholders and to assess its potential application on the steel import process,” Canada said. It hopes increasing its oversight over COM could boost supply chain transparency by obtaining a “more fulsome picture of the origins of imported steel goods.” The consultation period closes June 26.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week extended by a month a public comment period to allow more time for feedback on the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council's Secure Supply Chains Working Group. BIS said it wants to allow commenters to “take into account any developments or announcements that may occur” during the TTC’s upcoming meeting in France May 15-16. Comments, originally due May 23 (see 2204050012), are now due by June 23.
CBP will soon launch a pilot program to electronically process export documents for used vehicles, the agency said in a notice released May 9. The voluntary pilot, open to exports of any “used self propelled vehicles” (USPVs) that can be driven on land but not rail, is aimed at expediting and modernizing the agency's document submission and review process, CBP said.
The United Arab Emirates recently launched an online portal for information on the country’s trade deal with India, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 4. The portal includes a copy of the full agreement, provides summaries of its “key clauses” and includes a searchable tariff database for specific goods. It also has “tariff structures, introduction timetables, differential treatments, rules of origin, customs procedures, issues impacting small and medium‑size enterprises, and available digital trade options,” the report said. The deal took effect May 1.
Canada on May 7 will rescind duty-free treatment for imports of medical supplies and personnel protective equipment, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 3. Canada originally introduced the tariff relief, effective May 6, 2020, to “mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic” but has since determined that the duty is “no longer warranted.” Products no longer covered by the duty exemption include diagnostic test kits, face and eye protection, gloves, protective garments, disinfectants, sterilization products, medical devices and thermometers. When the notice about the remission of the tariffs was published in the Canada Gazette May 27, 2020, it noted: “The Order will remain in force as long as warranted by the COVID-19 situation.”
A lack of guidance from the Bureau of Industry and Security on its recent Russia-related foreign direct product rules is creating compliance “chaos” for companies operating in the region (see 2203070039), Torres Trade Law said in an April alert. The firm said businesses have been “left to fend” for themselves “when it comes to compliance with the new FDP rules,” partly because BIS hasn’t yet published any enforcement actions or settlements for either rule.