Liquefied natural gas terminal developer Hanseatic Energy Hub has delayed the development of a proposed LNG terminal in Germany amid large price swings, Bloomberg reported. Danielle Stoves, commercial and regulatory director for Hanseatic, said the company decided to hold off on a key step toward a final investment decision when it postponed offering transportation capacity to would-be consumers this month, Bloomberg said. Germany has proposed three LNG terminals in a bid to wean off Russian gas, and Hanseatic's delay is just one of many setbacks facing all three terminals. The plan for Hanseatic was to build an onshore storage and regasification unit with 12 billion cubic meters a year of capacity. Hanseatic also said a final investment decision queued up for the first quarter of 2023 may also be shifted, Bloomberg said.

A group of non-European Union countries aligned themselves with a series of EU sanctions decisions, the European Council said in several news releases. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Georgia adopted the EU's decisions to extend its Syria sanctions regime until June 1 and update the information for a listed individual. Montenegro, Albania, Norway and Ukraine aligned themselves with the EU's December decision to amend the list of individuals and entities subject to the sanctions regime relating to actions undermining the territorial independence of Ukraine.

The European Union will host a stakeholder meeting Feb. 8 to discuss reforming investment dispute resolution, which includes establishing a multilateral investment court, the European Commission said. The meeting's goals are to "update stakeholders on the latest developments in this area at the EU and international level and to exchange views on the latest relevant EU policy developments," the commission said. The meeting will be conducted virtually. Registration to attend ends Feb. 1.

The European Union extended its economic sanctions targeting certain economic sectors in Russia relating to the situation in Ukraine for another six months, until July 31, the European Council said Jan. 13. The sanctions were initially imposed in 2014 following Russia's failure to fully implement the Minsk Agreements that were negotiated to end fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine. As part of this sanctions regime, the EU has also imposed individual restrictive measures in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol along with its destabilization efforts toward Ukraine.

The U.K. and India began negotiations on a new free trade agreement at an event in New Delhi, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said Jan. 13. Cementing what it dubs its "5-star year of trade," the DIT laid out the agreement's potential benefits: doubling trade with India by 2030, which was already valued at over $31.5 billion; cutting duties on British products such as Scotch whisky and cars; and boosting the U.K.'s green industries. "A deal with India is a golden opportunity to put UK businesses at the front of the queue as the Indian economy continues to grow rapidly," International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a statement. "By 2050 India will be the world’s third largest economy with a middle class of almost 250 million shoppers. We want to unlock this huge new market for our great British producers and manufacturers across numerous industries from food and drink to services and automotive."

The U.K. updated its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida and South Sudan sanctions regimes in a pair of financial sanctions notices. For its South Sudan sanctions list, the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entry for Paul Malong Awon Anei, chief of general staff of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The U.K. also updated its ISIL information on the Consolidated List to reflect the changes made by the United Nations to its ISIL sanctions list, adjusting the entries for 62 individuals and entities.

Seven countries not in the European Union aligned themselves with the EU's recent sanctions decisions regarding Belarus, Syria and human rights violations, the European Council said. Concerning Belarus' actions to amass migrants at the EU border, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway aligned with the EU's decision to amend the listing criteria used to impose sanctions. They agreed to conform their national policies with the EU decisions.

The European Commission gave notice Jan. 13 of the impending expiry of the antidumping duties on barium carbonate from China, unless a review of the duties is initiated. European Union manufacturers can submit a written request for a review up to three months before the Sept. 29 expiration date.

The U.K. issued compound penalties to exporters that shipped unlicensed strategic exports on 10 separate occasions between March and November 2021, the Department for International Trade said Jan. 10. Ranging from around $1,362 to $73,450, the fines concerned unlicensed exports of dual use goods, military goods and related activity, the notice said. The highest fine was in July 2021 when an exporter was fined $73,450 over offenses "in relation to the export of military rated goods without the appropriate license."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that she expressed strong support for Lithuania "in the face of economic coercion" during a call with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis Jan. 7, and that the European Union and U.S. should work together to address coercive economic tactics "through various avenues, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council" (see 2201060034). The readout of the call also said they discussed steel and aluminum excess capacity. The U.S. replaced its tariffs on EU exporters in those sectors with tariff rate quotas that will last five years; it is Europe's goal to return to trade as it was before the Section 232 action.