The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs issued a guidance document March 29 detailing value-added tax procedures for imports from Ireland should the U.K. leave the EU with no deal on April 12, as scheduled. Once the U.K. leaves the EU, import VAT will be due on goods moving from Ireland to Northern Ireland, whether those goods are ending their journey in Northern Ireland or are only moving through on the way to Great Britain, HMRC said.

In the March 28 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs posted a new video March 28 intended to explain requirements for trading with the European Union should the U.K. leave the EU with no deal in place. The video covers applying for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, transitional simplified procedures (TSP), preparing to make customs declarations, entry summary declarations and paying the correct import and export duty and VAT, HMRC said.

The European Union on March 28 issued a report on its trade defense activities in 2018, including antidumping and countervailing duties and safeguards. The EU started 10 new AD/CVD investigations in 2018, with 105 AD/CVD orders in place at the end of a year, “a slight decrease as compared to the previous year,” the report sad. “Investigative work remained at a high level, reaching nearly that of 2017,” it said.

The European Union has reached an agreement in principle with the U.S. on importation of non-hormone-treated U.S. beef, according to an alert from the Cheese Importers Association of America. The U.S. beef industry had been pressuring for the re-imposition of retaliatory tariffs because the EU had purportedly not been adhering to an agreement to increase market access for U.S. beef by way of a tariff-rate quota for beef produced without growth-promoting hormones, the alert said. The deal would still need to be approved by EU member states and the U.S., and the EU must also reach agreements with Australia and Uruguay as the two biggest beneficiaries of the U.S. inability to fill the TRQs, the CIAA said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative "has not issued any formal statement regarding the EU-claimed agreement," the trade group said.

The European Union will add the United Kingdom to the list of countries eligible for its general export authorization for most dual-use goods once the U.K. leaves the EU with no transition deal in place, it said in a notice issued March 27. The new regulation adds the U.K. to authorization “EU001,” which is currently applicable to the U.S. Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. The authorization applies to all goods on the EU’s dual-use control list, with some exceptions such as pathogens and materials, software and materials for making nuclear weapons. The U.K.’s addition to the authorization would take effect on the day that EU treaties cease to apply in the U.K., the notice says.

In the March 27 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

In the March 26 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Intra-European Union licenses required for very sensitive dual-use items that authorize the export of goods from an EU member state to the United Kingdom will still be valid when and if the U.K. leaves the EU with no transition deal in place, he EU said in a fact sheet issued March 21. These intra-EU transfer licenses, if issued before the U.K.’s withdrawal date, "should be considered as valid licences for exports to the United Kingdom as of the withdrawal date, and until the validity of the licence expires,” the EU said. The fact sheet reiterates that, for dual-use goods, exports from the EU to the U.K. will become subject to the EU’s export control regime after a no-deal Brexit, and any licenses issued by the U.K. for exports from the EU to a third-country will no longer be valid.

The United Kingdom reached a deal to maintain trade relationships with several countries in the Caribbean after it leaves the EU, the U.K. said in a news release. The agreement involves Barbados, Belize, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, The Republic of Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the U.K. said. The trade continuity agreement will allow for trade in rum and other goods "without any additional barriers or tariffs," the U.K. said. "The UK is seeking to provide continuity for existing EU trade agreements covering more than 70 countries that account for 11% of total UK trade and we are making good progress having recently signed agreements with Switzerland and Israel," it said.