The United Kingdom and Australia reached a new free trade deal, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade announced in a June 15 news release. The pact promises that “iconic” goods such as British cars, Scotch whisky, biscuits and ceramics can be imported tariff-free into Australia, caps tariff-free agriculture imports for 15 years via “tariff rate quotas and other safeguards,” and allows British citizens under the age of 35 to be able to travel and work in Australia more openly, the release said.

The European Union and Canada have reached an agreement on critical minerals as part of the EU-Canada summit, the European Council announced in a June 14 news release. The deal was struck to secure supply chains in raw materials and reduce dependence on China for the key inputs. “To diversify sources of important green and digital economy inputs away from less like-minded producers, and to foster competitive EU-Canada supply chains, the leaders established an EU-Canada Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials,” the release said.

The European Parliament published its new tools to address trade risks in dual-use items in the June 11 Official Journal of the European Union. The regulation addresses trade risks for emerging technologies and goods that could be involved in cybersurveillance. The 460-plus-page regulation, approved May 20, includes stricter controls for cybersurveillance technology that may be used for human rights abuses, new general export licenses to authorize shipments of cryptographic items and certain “intra-group technology transfers,” and mechanisms for greater coordination between members and with trading partners (see 2105100013).

The Switzerland and Russia customs agencies signed a memorandum of understanding to better cooperate on customs procedures, Switzerland said in a June 9 news release. Switzerland said the memorandum will “promote technical cooperation,” allow both sides to share brest practices for certain customs procedures and provide opportunities to “optimise processes in the cross-border movement of goods.”

Some United Kingdom exporters are experiencing border delays for shipments of dual-use items because the shipments had incorrect license references on their documentation, the U.K. said in a June 11 guidance. After registering for a license on SPIRE, exporters will receive a unique license registration number that should accompany their commercial documentation, the guidance said. If the correct license registration number isn't included, goods that require strategic export authorizations may be stopped by customs, it said.

European and U.S. former government officials said they think the U.S. and European countries will find much common ground in efforts to make trade work for working people, but that getting on the same page with China will be a challenge.

The European Commission imposed a provisional antidumping duty on imports of birch plywood from Russia, according to a June 11 regulation notification. The duties range from 15% to 15.9%. The Sveza Group, made up of seven exporting manufacturers, received a rate of 15.9%; Syktyvkar Plywood Mill Ltd., 15%; and Zheshartsky LPK, 15.3%. The rate is 15.7% for other cooperating companies and 15.9% for all other companies.

The European Union General Court annulled the sanctions listing of Sayed Shamsuddin Borborudi, the former deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, in a June 9 judgment. Borborudi was originally listed under the EU's Iranian nuclear sanctions regime for his position with AEOI and his work with Iran's nuclear program since 2002. The general court said he stopped working for AEOI in 2013, and the European Council failed to show evidence of his continued involvement in Iran's nuclear program. His prior work did not justify a continued listing, the court said.

The European Commission in a June 11 notice announced the impending expiration of antidumping duty measures on certain graphite electrode systems from India unless a review of the duties is initiated. European Union manufacturers can submit a written request for a review up to three months before the duty's March 11, 2022, expiration date.

The Czech Republic is nearing changes to its value-added tax regulations for cross-border e-commerce sales, KPMG said June 9. The changes, effective July 1 if enacted, would eliminate national limits for sending goods, revise certain VAT registration procedures and introduce a “completely new special regime” for imports of low-value goods.