Vietnamese makers of casual and sports shoes have not evaded anti-dumping tariffs on their exports to this South American market, Brazil announced recently.
The South American economy made the announcement on July 5 after a nine-month administrative review, according to the Vietnam Competition Authority.
On December 15, 2008, the Brazil Department of External Trade (DECOM) decided to conduct an anti-dumping probe into shoes imported from China and Vietnam.
On December 24, 2008 Abicalcados, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, requested that DECOM exclude Vietnam from the list of defendants.
In 2010, China’s shoe exports to Brazil fell 16 percent due to high tariffs, while Vietnam’s shoe exports to this market increased 30 percent, making up 22 percent of Brazil’s total shoe imports.
Big shoe manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok planned to shift their production bases from China to Vietnam, hoping to enjoy low taxes.
On October 4, 2011, DECOM launched an investigation into the evasion of anti-dumping tariffs on shoe imports from Vietnam, suspecting that the products, manufactured in China, might be sent to Vietnam to be labeled as Made-in Vietnam shoes and then re-exported to Brazil.
In early May 2012, a group of experts from DECOM arrived in Vietnam to make a fact-finding tour of five Nike and Adidas shoemakers in Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Long An provinces.
In their technical report, Brazilian experts found that Vietnamese shoe makers had not evaded anti-dumping tariffs.
This is the first time Vietnam has succeeded in an international investigation into the evasion of anti-dumping tariffs on its exports.
Vietnam’s footwear exports rose 28 percent in 2011 to hit more than US$6.6 billion. Shoe exports to Brazil alone fetched over US$180 million, topping the list of Vietnamese exports to this South American economy.
VOV
Vietnamese
