The European Commission has set up a new surveillance tool to help protect the EU against sudden and potentially disruptive surges in imports. This comes amid concerns over redirection of trade flows for products like steel following the implementation of US tariffs, Kallanish notes.
The system aims to 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, the Commission notes. By providing fact-based information building on customs data, the surveillance tool will enable the Commission to swifty identify any such import surges and take early and effective action to protect the EU market from adverse impacts.
The Commission is inviting 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 help it identify specific products that may be at risk.
The new tool builds on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s initiative to set up an import surveillance task force to address the challenges posed by trade diversion, in the wake of recent global trading system turbulence.
Additionally, the Commission is setting up a dialogue with China to track possible trade diversion and ensure that any notable developments are duly addressed.
The move comes in direct response to a call to action by Eurometal in April, when the European distributors’ association urged EU institutions to implement faster and more transparent mechanisms to monitor import surges, Eurometal notes. These could threaten the competitiveness of European steel distribution and service centres.
Adam Smith Poland
