The European Union director general said the union will be scaling back export restrictions on personal protective gear, and she said that the EU is still trying to convince individual countries to lift restrictions on ventilators. Sabine Weyand was speaking from Brussels on a webcast hosted by the Washington International Trade Association on April 9. Weyand said the temporary EU restrictions will expire April 25, and that officials are reviewing the list, as they have realized not all PPE is scarce.

As industry sees an increase in parties invoking force majeure clauses (see 2002140027) due to the COVID-19 pandemic response measures, courts will more closely review force majeure disputes to determine whether companies are simply trying to escape a difficult economic situation, commercial litigation lawyers said. Before invoking the clause, parties should make sure compliance with their contracts is impossible due to the pandemic. “The courts … are going to be very astute to look for people trying to use COVID-19 as a force majeure excuse where actually the contract was just not economic for them anyway,” Sean Upson, a lawyer with U.K.-based Stewarts law firm, said during an April 9 webinar.

Recently announced restrictions on exports of personal protective equipment (PPE) only apply to commercial shipments, and exports to Canada and Mexico are exempt from the policy, said CBP in a memo dated April 9. The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America included the memo in an April 9 email on COVID-19 developments.

The World Trade Organization is forecasting a huge hit to trade around the world, but how bad it will be depends on how long the lockdowns persist, the organization said April 8. In an optimistic scenario, restrictions on movement are lifted after three months. In a pessimistic scenario, they're lifted (or partially lifted) after six months. And in the worst-case scenario, the stay-at-home orders last for a year, and even after they're over, a lot of the people who lost their jobs do not get back to work, so big-ticket purchases like cars and major appliances continue to be depressed in 2021.

Ukraine recently announced a limit on the amount of wheat that can be exported through the end of the current marketing year, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released April 7. The move aims to address “public concerns” about the COVID-19 pandemic and will cap wheat exports at 20.2 million metric tons, the report said. The country's wheat exports are expected to fall just below the cap at 19.6 mmt, the USDA said.

The United Kingdom is extending the industry consultation period for its upcoming freeports (see 2002100032) through July 13, due to impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an April 8 notice. The consultation opened Feb. 10 and was scheduled to end April 20. The U.K. said it has received some responses and wants to “give all stakeholders time to submit their views.”

Russia recently announced an export quota on certain grains to ensure domestic “agricultural security” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released April 7. The quota took effect April 1 and will last through June 30, the USDA said, which marks the end of the grain marketing year. Russian analysts have said the quota will not have a negative impact on the Russian grain market, the USDA said. Analysts also said the measure is largely unnecessary due to the high grain harvest expected this summer.

The European Union is considering amending rules that will allow it to take action in international trade disputes despite the “paralysis” of the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement body, according to an April 8 EU notice. The rules will make it easier for the EU “to protect its trade interests and rights” while the WTO is unable to deliver binding dispute settlement decisions due to an appointment blockade by the Trump administration (see 1912170035), the European Council said. The amended rules would allow the EU to impose certain sanctions, such as customs duties and trade restrictions, in cases in which dispute settlement procedures are blocked. The rules will also give the European Commission the ability to take countermeasures when a trade agreement partner imposes “illegal trade measures” and “blocks the dispute settlement process under that agreement.” The council said it is “ready to start negotiations” on the rules with the European Parliament.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of April 8 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

China plans to upgrade its online declaration system to allow companies to more easily apply for tariff exemptions for imported U.S. goods (see 2003180018), according to an April 7 report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The online system will allow companies to more conveniently submit their “procurement plans” and allow authorities to better process exemption applications, Xinhua said. The system will especially help applications “involving a procurement amount of less than 3,000 U.S. dollars or when the time of import approached,” the report said. The system will also include a process to “accelerate re-editing for approved” procurement plans, transactions records and other information, Xinhua said.