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Dr. Bregt Natens (Belgium)

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On Thursday 12 December, we hosted the webinar “Trump and Tariffs: A Global Perspective of What Lies Ahead”. The session focused on the potential tariff impacts of President-Elect Trump’s second term in office, giving a global perspective on what to expect from the new U.S. administration in terms of the much-touted additional tariffs on imports into the U.S., and how best to prepare for their direct and indirect consequences. Speakers from across the globe discussed…

On Thursday 12 December, we hosted the webinar “Trump and Tariffs: A Global Perspective of What Lies Ahead”. The session focused on the potential tariff impacts of President-Elect Trump’s second term in office, giving a global perspective on what to look out for, and how best to prepare. Highlights from our speakers are set out below. To listen to the full webinar, please click here. US Canada Mexico Latin America EU / UK Africa Middle…

In a landmark ruling on 21 November 2024, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) dismissed an appeal, upholding the General Court of the European Union’s original decision that relocation of production from the US to Thailand with the dominant purpose of avoiding EU retaliatory tariffs on US-origin goods could not be “economically justified” and as such falls foul of the EU’s “anti-circumvention” rules. This decision could have wide-ranging impacts, including a significant impact on companies’…

Companies engaged in continuous production processes may face challenges when using the EU inward processing procedure. For background, inward processing allows an EU company to import materials without having to pay import duties and other charges like anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties, if the product made with these imported materials is exported. First, EU customs law allows companies to use inward processing if the imported non-EU materials used in the production can be identified in the…

Under EU customs law, storing and warehousing EU and non-EU goods is possible if certain conditions are met. However, since 2020, non-EU goods subject to anti-dumping, countervailing, or safeguard measures, can no longer be stored together with EU goods. This is because EU customs law now states that non-EU goods subject to anti-dumping measures do not have the same commercial quality as EU goods, and goods that do not have the same commercial quality cannot…

On 24 September, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced that, as a general policy measure, it would start automatically registering imports of products subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, including in ongoing investigations. Until now, complainants had to request the Commission to register imports based on evidence of stockpiling (i.e., of increased imports during the investigation). On 24 October, the Commission published a several regulations in fact registering imports in all ongoing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.…

On 4 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered judgments in Front Polisario (joined cases C‑778/21 P and C-798/21 P and joined cases C‑779/21 P and C-799/21 P). These judgments concern appeals brought by the European Commission and the Council of the EU against judgments of the General Court of the EU annulling EU decisions related to agreements between the EU and Morocco involving the Western Sahara territory. The EU…

This blog concerns an update of our previous blog on the extension of the definition of “consigned from”, to be found here. In 2023, the EU applied anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties (together “AD/AS duties”) on imports of 141 products from 20 countries. The EU regularly extends these duties to imports of these products from other countries to counter circumvention.As context, to see whether AD/AS duties apply, you need to look at the non-preferential origin of…

On 17 September 2024, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), an EU body that prosecutes among others financial crimes that affect the EU budget, announced that it is seeking criminal penalties from two companies and five of their directors of more than 8 years imprisonment along with a fine of over EUR 25 million. Over 30 properties linked to the defendants were seized to ensure that the defendants can meet their financial liabilities. EPPO alleges…

In 2023, the EU applied anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties (together “AD/AS duties”) on imports of 141 products from 20 countries. The EU regularly extends these duties to imports of these products from other countries to counter circumvention. As context, to see whether AD/AS duties apply, you need to look at the non-preferential origin of imported products. For example, EU AD/AS duties on Indonesian stainless steel apply on stainless steel with non-preferential origin Indonesia, regardless of…