The European Commission announced June 4 a new surveillance tool to help prevent harmful trade diversion, which occurs when a significant amount of goods that cannot enter other markets due to high tariffs and other restrictions are redirected into the EU. By providing fact-based information building on customs data, the Commission said, this tool will enable the EU to swiftly identify any such import surges and take early and effective action to protect the EU market from adverse impacts.
To further strengthen this initiative, the Commission is inviting EU manufacturers, industry associations, and member states to review the import trends available on the tool website and provide further market intelligence and data on the industry’s economic situation. This will further assist the Commission in identifying specific products that may be at risk due to significant import increases.
The Commission notes that the new tool builds on an initiative to set up an import surveillance task force. Previously this task force developed an internal dashboard that monitors all imports into the EU and, through statistical analysis, identifies products that have seen a potentially harmful increase of imports. Focusing on the period since Jan. 1, 2025, the task force will keep monitoring imports and other indicators on an ongoing basis, with the results published online regularly.
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