...BRUSSELS — The European Union adopted anti-dumping duties on Chinese...
FONTE: www.thestar.com
BRUSSELS — The European Union adopted anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes Thursday, saying the penalties are necessary to act against a flood of cheap imports that break world trade rules.
The European Commission said it had identified "clear evidence of disguised subsidies and unfair state intervention to the leather footwear sector in China and Vietnam."
Trade officials from the EU's 25 member states had already allowed for the recommendation of EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson that they impose temporary duties of up to almost 20 per cent on imports.
"These anti-dumping measures will correct the injury caused to European leather shoe producers. It is important that we act against unfair trade," Mandelson said in a statement.
The anti-dumping measures are to be phased in from April 7, starting at four per cent and rising to 19.4 per cent for Chinese shoes and 16.8 per cent on Vietnamese footwear over six months. Half of the 2.5 billion pairs of shoes sold in the EU last year came from China.
The EU will continue its investigation, due to close in the fall, which will decide if the duties should remain in place for up to five years.
China has called Mandelson's allegations — that it is dumping shoes at below-cost prices and violating fair trade rules — ``groundless." Beijing urged the EU last week to reconsider imposing the proposed sanctions.
Mandelson's office said Thursday that the commissioner is still willing "to work with the Vietnamese and Chinese governments to address the questions of competitive distortions raised by the commission's investigation."
The EU has said imports of leather shoes from China soared 450 per cent from 2004 to 2005 to 1.25 billion pairs and by a massive 1,000 per cent from 2001 to 2005.
Vietnamese imports fell by one per cent from 2004 to 2005 to 265 million pairs, mainly due to sharper competition with China, but grew 95 per cent from 2001 to 2005, the EU said.
It said the average unit price for both Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes fell by an average of 28 per cent over the last four years.
