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In Brief

EU draws up anti coercion trade tool

 

EU
The EU has agreed to a new trade defence tool to retaliate against countries that use punitive measures, such as China's blocking Lithuanian imports over its relationship with Taiwan. The agreement among the European Parliament, Member States and European Commission was reached on Monday and is still subject to approval in the coming weeks. This instrument aims to deter third countries from targeting the EU and its Member States with economic coercion, and it will consider the impact on businesses. It can include increased customs duties, withdrawal of import or export licenses and restrictions in services and public procurement. The Commission is obliged to investigate any case of coercion, and if a qualified majority of Member States agree, the Commission can draw up a list of potential countermeasures. The EU has also proposed a ban on products made with forced labour. These measures demonstrate the strength of the Commission in defending EU Member States and interests.

US and Japan signed agreement for car batteries minerals.

Electric car
Yesterday, the US and Japan announced a trade deal covering critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and graphite used in electric car batteries. This agreement includes provisions to share information on potential labour violations in the supply chain for these minerals and to collaborate in building their respective capacities. The deal is relevant to Washington's Inflation Reduction Act, which provides tax credits for companies sourcing parts from countries with free trade agreements, potentially excluding the EU and Japan. This month, the US started talks with the EU on trade in critical minerals, hoping to allow European products to qualify for tax incentives.

The US has stressed the importance of strengthening the supply chain with like-minded partners to reduce dependency on other countries for these minerals.

Prosecutors investigate Banks in France

French pro­sec­utors yesterday raided the Paris offices of BNP Pari­bas, Société Générale, and several other large banks as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion related to dividend pay­ments. Accompanying the raid were 150 agents to search emails and doc­u­ments at the banks, which included HSBC, Natixis and BNP-owned broker­age Exane. This marks the biggest raid orchestrated by French fin­an­cial pro­sec­utors and is linked to five invest­ig­a­tions launched this year over money laun­der­ing and fiscal fraud charges. Furthermore, French tax author­it­ies have sought to levy fines of more than €1bn on the banks for the so-called "cum-cum" trades, which are designed to seek tax advant­ages.

German pro­sec­utors have also been involved in the investigation, with searches having been conducted in Britain at the behest of German invest­ig­at­ors. The raids were designed to collect evidence to determine if there had been any attempts to help clients avoid taxes.

www.sba.tax

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