U.K. Minister for Trade Policy Greg Hands is traveling across the U.S. to meet with various state officials on boosting trade ties at the state level, the Department for International Trade announced Dec. 7. During the trip, Hands will sign the U.K.'s third memorandum of understanding with a U.S. state to increase trade and investment.
The European Council and Parliament struck a provisional deal to minimize deforestation and forest degradation risk for EU imports and exports, the council announced. The deal, if formally adopted by both bodies, would set mandatory due diligence rules for all traders who "place, make available or export" palm oil, beef, timber, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy from the EU market.
The U.K. recently released four general licenses pertaining to its recent price cap on Russian oil. The first license, "Oil Price Cap: Exempt Projects and Countries," permits the supply Russian oil in certain scenarios. One such instance is the supply of Russian oil from the Sakhalin-2 Project from a place in Russia to a place in Japan, which is permitted through Sept. 29.
The EU extended for another year its sanctions regime pertaining to individuals and entities who commit serious human rights violations worldwide, the European Council announced Dec. 5. The restrictions, which cover 17 individuals and five entities and amount to a travel ban and asset freeze, will be in effect until Dec. 8, 2023.
Bloomberg released a report this week analyzing how recent geopolitical events since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have reshaped traditional trading relationships. The report concluded the U.S. is regularly importing more goods from Europe than from China, China is exporting a greater share of its goods to non-U.S. markets, Brexit boosted costs and reduced market access for British exporters, China uses its economic power to achieve strategic goals, and Germany was slow to cut off Russian imports after the invasion of Ukraine.
The European Council announced that non-EU European nations aligned with five different sanctions decisions. Concerning the Nov. 14 move to amend the list of individuals and entities subject to sanctions on Iran, the countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the council said.
Switzerland has frozen $7.99 billion in Russian assets out of an existing $49.1 billion marked by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the Swiss Federal Council announced. In addition to the nearly $8 billion, Switzerland has also seized 15 properties. SECO said that after the imposition of the Russian sanctions, 123 individuals or entities reported 7,548 business relationships with sanctioned parties, carrying a value of over $49.1 billion. The Federal Council clarified, though, that this number can "not be equated" with the total amount of funds of Russian origin held in Switzerland because Swiss citizens "are exempt from the ban on deposits and the reporting requirement."
The European Council on Dec. 1 agreed to a "general approach" to a proposed piece of regulation that would set up the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA), the council announced. The approach means the council has a political agreement from which it can start negotiations with the European Parliament, the council said. The council confirmed the European Commission's proposal to commit over $524 million from the EU budget to "incentivise actions addressing the most urgent and critical defence product needs," though these actions must be carried out by at least three member states.
The European Commission proposed to EU member states the possibility of using assets frozen under the Russia sanctions regime to compensate Ukraine for damages incurred by the war with Russia, the commission announced Nov. 30.
The U.K. Department for Transport recently amended its transport sanctions to add guidance on Belarus ship sanctions and expand the guidance on Belarus aircraft sanctions. The agency also updated the guidance on Russia ship and aircraft sanctions.