The acting U.S. trade representative, María Pagán, said that after two years of negotiations at the World Trade Organization, the European Union has agreed to adjust its tariff rate quotas since Great Britain and Northern Ireland are no longer in the EU. “Once implemented, this agreement will provide market access certainty for U.S. producers and exporters to the EU,” Pagán said.
Italy blocked a shipment of 250,700 AstraZeneca vaccine doses headed for Australia, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a March 4 news release. Italy cited three reasons for the imposition of the export controls: Australia is considered “non-vulnerable,” there is an ongoing shortage of vaccines in the EU and Italy with delays of shipments between AstraZeneca and the EU and Italy and the number of doses in the shipment was comparable to the quantity of doses supplied to Italy so far. The move marks the first time an EU member state has used the EU's new vaccine export controls, which passed Jan. 29. Before Italy's use of the controls, experts had said that the controls were meant only to send a message to AstraZeneca, which was making large commitments with many non-EU nations, including the U.K. and Australia, leaving it in danger of falling short of its EU commitments (see 2103010022).
The United Kingdom has announced the location of eight new “freeports” -- streamlined ports and airports with “simpler planning, infrastructure funding and cheaper customs” based off the U.S. foreign-trade zone model. In a March 3 speech to Parliament, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the locations to be East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, Humber, Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, Solent, Thames and Teesside. The U.K. announced the idea of the freeports in August 2019, pledging to create up to 10 (see 1908020025). The sites were selected via a Freeports Advisory Panel composed of the ministers of the Department of International Trade and HM Treasury, along with trade and business experts.
Cyprus recently extended its deadlines for payments of certain value-added taxes, according to a March 2 KPMG post. The country deferred VAT payments for the periods ending Dec. 31, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021, to later this year, KPMG said, with only certain taxpayers eligible. Cyprus is allowing VAT payers to pay the charges in three equal installments, and as long as certain conditions are met, the country will not impose late penalties or interest. The payments are now due in April, May and June.
An Asia expert said that just as China's Made in China 2025 national strategic plan on manufacturing was a wake-up call for American policymakers, it did the same for Germany and German industries. “We are not so different from where the U.S. was the last four years,” Gudrun Wacker said during a joint webinar March 4 with the Hudson Institute and her think tank, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
The European Union extended by one year sanctions against people responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds, the European Council said March 4. Now expiring March 6, 2022, the sanctions continue to impose asset freezes on seven people and also extend sanctions against one person until Sept. 6, 2021. The sanctions were last extended in March 2020 until March 6 this year.
For U.S. biodiesel companies exporting fuel to the United Kingdom with a specified overseas exporter duty rate, a declaration must now be submitted with their valid commercial invoices, the U.K. added in a taxation notice on March 1. If the declaration is not made, then the standard duty amount applicable to biodiesel from the U.S. will be applied. The declaration must be dated and signed by an official of the entity issuing the invoice. A sample declaration is provided.
The United Kingdom on March 2 signed a trade partnership agreement with Ghana, it announced in a press release. The agreement secures tariff-free trade for certain goods for both countries and reinstates the terms of the economic partnership between the European Union and Ghana when the U.K. was a part of the EU. Ghanaian bananas, tinned tuna and cocoa will enjoy tariff-free access to the British market while U.K. machinery, electronics and chemical products will now enter Ghana duty-free. “This deal secures tariff-free access for products that British shoppers love -- and supports jobs in Ghana -- paving the way for further economic growth as we build back better from COVID-19,” Ghana's Minister for International Trade Ranil Jayawardena said at a virtual event marking the signing.
The European Union added four Russian individuals to its sanctions list for serious human rights violations, including the arbitrary arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the crackdown on the subsequent protests, the European Council announced in a March 2 press release. The sanctioned individuals are Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation; Igor Krasnov, the Prosecutor-General; Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard; and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service. The restrictive measures consist of a travel ban and asset freeze, and people and entities in the EU are forbidden from making funds available to the listed individuals. These sanctions mark the first use of the new EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, established on Dec. 7, 2020, that permits the EU to use sanctions for human-rights related purposes including genocide, slavery, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and other violations.
The European Commission initiated an investigation to assess whether to extend beyond June 30 safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products. The investigation, announced in a Feb. 26 news release, will explore whether the measures continue to be necessary to protect the EU steel industry. In effect since July 2018, the safeguard measures include tariff-rate quotas above which a 25% duty is levied. Companies and individuals have 15 days to publish comments on the safeguard measures, and the commission will issue questionnaires to insdustry stakeholders, the release said. Member states will ultimately vote on the proposal, with a final decision before the end of June.