On Wednesday 25 April, the European Commission adopted a regulation establishing a prior surveillance system for imports into the EU of certain aluminium products originating in some third countries.
In response to the new US customs duties of 10% on aluminium imports announced by US President Donald Trump on 8 March and the potential diversion of trade to the EU market, this measure will allow the EU to closely monitor import trends in aluminium on its market.
The products covered by the surveillance system therefore mirror the products covered by the US measures.
Surveillance has a purely statistical purpose and does not affect trade flows. It will, however, allow the EU to anticipate any trade surges and, if necessary, allow the Commission to act in a timely and WTO-compatible manner to prevent economic damage for EU producers, the Commission assures.
Companies that intend to import into the EU aluminium products covered by the surveillance measures will now have to request an import licence. The licence will be granted automatically whilst giving the Commission a better real-time overview of trade flows.
At the end of April 2016, the EU set up a similar prior surveillance system for imports of steel into the EU (see EUROPE 11543).
Thanks to the data collected through this system, the Commission was able to open a safeguard investigation on 26 March to prevent the diversion of global steel exports intended for the US market to its own market (see EUROPE 11989).
European Aluminium (the association of the European aluminium industry) said on 9 April that the EU would doubtless move on to the examination of safeguard measures as part of the WTO, following the raising of US customs duties on aluminium in order to compensate for the redirection of imports to the EU from Russia, the Middle East and China (see EUROPE 11998). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)