China requested dispute consultations at the World Trade Organization last week with India, regarding the latter's incentives in the automotive and renewable energy sectors, the WTO announced.
A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel found last week that Colombia has failed to comply with the findings of an arbitration panel regarding the nation's antidumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
A Pakistani national was sentenced to 40 years in prison on charges relating to the transportation of Iranian-origin advanced conventional weaponry, DOJ announced Oct. 23. Muhammad Pahlawan was convicted in June of conspiracy to provide material support to terror groups, providing material support to Iran's weapons of mass destruction program, providing material support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' weapons of mass destruction program and conspiring to ship explosive devices to the Houthi rebel group, DOJ said.
A new U.K. general license authorizes certain payments from sanctioned Iranian entities to "UK Employees and UK Directors" for six months. The license runs from Oct. 23 through April 22 and covers Bank Melli, Bank Saderat Iran, Bank Tejarat, Persia International Bank and Iran Insurance Co. These parties can make payments for "remuneration, allowances and contractual or statutory redundancy payments to" their U.K. employees and directors; pensions of U.K. employees and directors; fees and other costs related to services provided by IT companies; and fees and costs related to accountancy services for the banks' U.K. operations.
The U.K. on Oct. 22 sanctioned a range of people and an entity for their ties to illegal migration to the country, including members of Balkan-based criminal gangs involved in selling fake passports, international financiers for their role in supporting human smugglers, and suppliers of small boat equipment.
The U.K. issued a new general license Oct. 22 authorizing certain transactions with the German subsidiaries of major Russian energy firm PJSC Rosneft Oil: Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing. The license authorizes the "continuation of business" activities with those subsidiaries -- including payments, contracts and the exchange of economic resources -- and any entity they own or control. The license, which expires Oct. 22, 2027, comes about a week after the U.K. sanctioned Rosneft (see 2510160021).
The Council of the European Union on Oct. 20 largely agreed to a European Commission proposal (see 2506180058) that would ban certain Russian gas imports starting on Jan. 1 "while maintaining a transition period for existing contracts." The council next must negotiate with the European Parliament on the final text for the proposal.
Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technology said this week that it will appeal a recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denying the company's challenge to its designation as a Chinese military company. DJI will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (SZ DJI Technology v. U.S. Department of Defense, D.D.C. # 24-02970).
The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. this week amended listings under their sanctions regimes.
The European Commission announced a new proposal Oct. 6 to shrink the size of its tariff-rate quota for steel to 18.3 million tons a year and double the tariff rate for out-of-quota steel to 50%. The proposal would decrease the quota by 47% from 2024 and double the current 25% tariff rate applicable to out-of-quota steel.