EU revises its Import monitoring mechanism

On July 15, the European Union announced an upgrade to its import monitoring mechanism through the reconfiguration of its ‘import barometer’, which gathers up-to-date import data and was originally established in 2025.

The main change involves remodelling the methodology used to monitor trade diversion.

Drawing upon Eurostat data, the reconfigured import barometer will continue to improve collective understanding among EU stakeholders of the scale and nature of the growing impact of sustained increases in imports of certain products.

On 5 June 2025, the Commission launched an import surveillance tool, now renamed as the import barometer, to help protect European industry from sudden and potentially disruptive surges in imports, whereby significant amounts of goods that cannot enter other markets due to high tariffs and other restrictions are redirected into the EU.

The latest import barometer result can be found here: https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/2e3865ad-3886-4131-92bb-a71754fffec6/library/a18997ed-549b-45ad-b2d3-c468949dd3f5/details?download=true

The one year period used for the analysis this explanatory note is based on is April 2025 to March 2026 and the import data are compared to the periods April 2024 to March 2025 (year -1) and April 2023 to March 2024 (year -2).

Among the categories of products reviewed are Agriculture, forestry and fishing and Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco products.

More information: https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/enforcement-and-protection/trade-defence/import-barometer_en