EC Ratifies Proposal to Adopt Anti-Dumping Tariffs on Vietnam Shoes
The European Commission (EC) on March 23 in Brussels (Belgium) officially ratified the EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s proposal to impose anti-dumping tariffs on leather shoes, excluding sporting shoes and children’s shoes, imported from Vietnam and China.
The move is to act against a flood of cheap imports from the two Asian countries. Accordingly, the initial duties on imported shoes from Vietnam and China will be at 4 per cent as of April, and then gradually increase to 16.8 per cent and 19.4 per cent, respectively, after five months.
The EC said it has found evidences of state intervention by China and Vietnam to subsidize their leather footwear manufacturers.
The duties have been strongly protested by Vietnam and China. The imposition is obviously groundless and Vietnam’s leather footwear sector is now facing huge challenges.
The EC decided to launch an anti-dumping investigation into Vietnam’s 33 categories of leather-capped shoes following a lawsuit filed by the European Leather Producers’ Union on May 30, 2005.
Among the 60 Vietnamese shoe manufacturers listed in the lawsuit, the EC chose eight companies for its investigations including Vietnam Pou Yuen, Vietnam Pou Chen, Taekwang Vina, Kainan Joint Venture, Shoes 32, Dona Bitis’, Binh Tien Import and Export, and Haiphong Shoes.
China and Vietnam each exported an estimated US$2 billion worth of shoes to the EU last year.
Young People, People’s Army
Vietnamese
