The European Commission gave notice Jan. 21 of the impending expiry of the antidumping duties on certain hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel from Brazil, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, unless a review of the duties is initiated. EU manufacturers can submit a written request for a review up until three months before the Oct. 7 expiration date.

The United Kingdom amended its Burundi sanctions regime in a January regulation following the largely peaceful transfer of power in the African nation resulting from the May 2020 elections. The changes "revoke and replace" the 2019 Burundi sanctions regime with its new sanctions parameters, drop the criteria for listing individuals or entities over their obstruction of the search for a peaceful solution to Burundi's political situation, and remove language encouraging the Burundi government to bring about a peaceful solution to its political situation. The U.S. has already revoked its Burundi sanctions regime to reflect the same changes.

The European Union initiated an expiry review of the antidumping duties on imports of certain aluminum road wheels from China following a request from the Association of European Wheel Manufacturers, the European Commission said in a Jan. 20 regulation. The review will cover "aluminium road wheels of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705, whether or not with their accessories and whether or not fitted with tyres" brought into the EU from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021. Interested parties wishing to submit comment on the review must do so within 37 days of the publication of the notice of initiation of the review, the commission said.

Seven countries aligned with the EU's Dec. 13 decision to add two individuals and three entities to its Syria sanctions regime, the European Council said in a Jan. 19 news release. The countries are North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Georgia.

The United Kingdom, in a pair of financial sanctions notices, replaced one individual on its Libya sanctions list and took three entities off its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Quren Salih Quren Al Qadhafi, replacing the entry for the same individual who served as the Libyan ambassador to Chad under the regime of Moammar Gadhafi. The individual remains subject to an asset freeze. OFSI also removed the Al-Haramain Foundation (Indonesia), Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation and Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (Somalia) from the ISIL sanctions regime, and thus lifted the asset freeze on the three.

The United Kingdom added two Russian individuals to its Global Human Rights sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said Jan. 13. Both former members of the Russian military, Dmitry Vadimovich Kovtun and Andrey Konstantinovich Lugovoy were sanctioned for their role in the killing of Alexander Litvinenko through deliberate poisoning in 2006. The pair were also listed under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, but OFSI gave notice Jan. 17 that the designations of the two Russians expired under that regime but are still subject to asset freezes as the two individuals' listings have been moved to the Global Human Rights sanctions regime.

The European Union imposed a definitive countervailing duty on imports of optical fiber cables from China, the European Commission said in a Jan. 19 regulation. Following a complaint from Europacable, the commission initiated the investigation and found that the imports of fiber optic cables from China were harming the EU industry. The duties will apply to "single mode optical fibre cables, made up of one or more individually sheathed fibres, with protective casing, whether or not containing electric conductors." The following rates apply: 10.3% CVD rate for FTT Group, consisting of FiberHome Telecommunication Technologies Co., Ltd., Nanjing Wasin Fujikura Optical Communication Ltd. and Hubei Fiberhome Boxin Electronic Co., Ltd.; 5.1% for ZTT Group, made up of Jiangsu Zhongtian Technology Co., Ltd. and Zhongtian Power Optical Cable Co., Ltd.; 7.8% for other companies cooperating in both anti-subsidy and antidumping investigations listed in Annex I; 10.3% for other companies cooperating in the antidumping investigation but not in the anti-subsidy investigation listed in Annex II; and 10.3% for all other companies.

Switzerland sanctioned six individuals and three entities linked to the private Russian military organization the Wagner Group, aligning it with EU actions. Now subject to Switzerland's Russia sanctions list are Dimitriy Valerievich Utkin, Denis Yurievich Kharitonov and Sergey Vladimirovich Shcherbakov, while Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov was added to the Libya sanctions list. Andrey Nikolaevich Troshev, Andrey Mikhailovich Bogatov, Velada LLC, Mercury LLC and Evro Polis LLC were added to Switzerland's Syria sanctions list. In imposing its sanctions in December 2021, the EU said the Wagner Group has trained and sent private military operatives to hot spots around the world to fuel violence and intimidate civilians, among other things, in violation of international law (see 2112130009).

The European Commission gave notice Jan. 18 of its decision to conduct an expiry review of the antidumping duties on sodium gluconate from China, following a request from French company Jungbunzlauer SA. European Union manufacturers can submit written comments over elements of the investigation within 37 days of the notice's publication. The review period runs Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021.

The European Union extended the antidumping duties on grain-oriented flat rolled products of silicon-electrical steel (GOES) from China, Russia, the U.S., Japan and South Korea for another five years, the European Commission said. The decision to extend the duties came after the commission conducted an expiry review and found that a lapse in the duties would amount to serious harm to EU GOES producers. The AD measures will continue to be implemented as a minimum import price, above which imports will be allowed to enter the EU without any antidumping duties. If the import prices are below this level, the commission will set the AD rates at the difference between the import price and the minimum import price, up to a maxim range of 21.5% to 39%. "The measures will thus continue to ensure a level playing field for EU GOES producers while providing stable supply on the import side of high quality GOES, needed in particular for the production of premium quality transformers, generators and motors," the commission said.