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US and UK reach understanding on large civil aircraft; tariffs to be suspended for five years

By 5 Mins Read

In a Joint Statement with the UK, on June 17, 2021, the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced, that: The United States and the United Kingdom [today] reached an understanding to resolve a long-standing trade irritant relating to large civil aircraft. This development strengthens our special relationship and builds on the revitalized Atlantic Charter, which affirms our ongoing commitment to sustaining and defending our enduring values against new and old challenges. The framework provides that the…

UK agrees to an FTA with Australia

By 2 Mins Read

On 15 June 2021, the UK Government announced that the UK has secured a trade deal with Australia eliminating tariffs on all UK goods and boosting jobs and businesses across the country, in the first major trade deal negotiated from scratch by the Government since the UK left the EU. The announcement said that the main elements of the deal were agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a…

UK – CPTPP nations agree to the UK’s bid to begin the accession process to the CPTPP

By 1 Min Read

On 2 June 2021, the UK government announced that the CPTPP nations had agreed to the UK’s bid to begin the accession process to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The CPTPP is a trade agreement between 11 countries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam), covering 500 million people. The announcement said the UK will continue to work closely with Japan, as this year’s…

US – USTR announces and immediately suspends tariffs in Section 301 Digital Services Taxes investigation

By 6 Mins Read

On June 2, 2021, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced the conclusion of the one-year Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The final determination in those investigations is to impose additional tariffs of 25% on certain goods (specified in Annex A to each notice) from these countries, while suspending the tariffs for up to 180 days to provide additional time…

UK – Updates to UK Information Security Open Licences – what’s new?

By , , and 3 Mins Read

The scope of the two Open General Export Licences (OGEL) for security items has been further refined and amendments to the OGELs were on Wednesday (26 May 2021) published by the Department for International Trade in a Notice to Exporters. The updated OGELs permit the export of low risk information security items that rely on encryption technologies listed in Schedule 1 to each OGEL. The new Information Security OGELs cover a significantly wider range of items than the…

UK opens consultation on rebalancing measures in response to the US Section 232 additional tariffs on UK steel, aluminium and derivatives

By 3 Mins Read

[The following is from the website of the company handling the consultation for the Department for International Trade (DIT).] As part of the UK’s new approach to US tariffs announced on 8th December 2020, the government announced it would be rolling over the rebalancing measures taken by the EU in response to the US Section 232 additional tariffs on UK steel, aluminium and derivatives. The government made clear at the time that the future of…

UK to launch tariff suspension scheme

By 2 Mins Read

On 20 May 2021, the Department for International Trade (DIT) announced that UK firms will be given further help to become more globally competitive in a new scheme to suspend tariffs on certain imports. The announcement said: It will allow companies that use imports to ask for duties on them to be partially or wholly withdrawn for a set period, lowering production costs. During the UK’s membership of the EU, firms had to submit applications…

UK introduces Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations

By 1 Min Read

The UK has issued the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021 (the “Regulations“), which came into force on 26 April 2021. These Regulations are designed to ensure that sanctions relating to serious incidents of corruption are enforced. The Regulations will give the government the power to impose asset freezes on designated persons or those dealing with them, with the aim of preventing the UK from being used as a “haven for dirty money.” This is the first time…

UK and Serbia sign Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement

By 2 Mins Read

On 19 April 2021, the UK Government announced that the UK and Serbia signed a Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement to ensure £682m trade can continue and grow between the two countries. The announcement said: The Agreement secures continued preferential trade access between the UK and Serbia with significant savings for business to support jobs and the wider economy. It also sets out how the two countries will strengthen political, economic, security and cultural ties,…

UK publishes new guidance on technology exports – 5 key takeaways for companies using the cloud

By , and 4 Mins Read

The UK Export Control Joint Unit has published a revised guidance note on exporting military or dual-use technology. This guidance clarifies a number of common queries regarding technology exports, particularly around the use of cloud storage and remote data infrastructure through which information could be routed. The guidance also addresses the application of the special arrangements in Northern Ireland under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. The guidance affirms the position on how key definitions and concepts in UK…