Roundup: EU states approve two-year anti-dumping duties on Chinese,Vietnamese shoes

European Union (EU) member states on Wednesday struck a compromise deal to introduce controversial anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoe imports.

Ambassadors from member states broke months of deadlock and voted to to levy the duties for two years starting from Saturday.

The measures were adopted by the slightest margin at a meeting of permanent representatives of the 25 EU nations in Brussels. Chinese and Vietnamese shoes will face tariffs of 16.5 percent and 10 percent respectively.

Nine countries voted in favor of the two-year measures and 12 against, with 4 countries abstaining, European Commission trade spokesman Peter Power said.

Under EU law, abstentions in such cases count as in favor of the proposal as they do not oppose it. Therefore the measures narrowly went through 13-12.

The measures will become official after being adopted by EU interior and justice ministers when they meet Thursday in Luxembourg, Power said.

In April, the EU imposed provisional tariffs of 19.4 percent on leather shoes from China and 16.8 percent for those from Vietnam, which were phased in over six months.

The measures were vehemently opposed by Chinese and Vietnamese governments and shoe producers, which criticized them as examples of sheer trade protectionism.

Children's shoes, which were not covered by the provisional anti-dumping duties introduced since April 7, are now subject to the definitive duties.

The anti-dumping measures had been a specially thorny issue for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson as EU member states are deeply divided over the plans.

In July and August, EU member states had rejected several proposals by Mandelson on imposing five-year definitive anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese shoes.

Mediterranean shoe producers, led by Italy, Portugal and Spain, have pushed for harsher measures while northern countries, including Sweden, Britain and Denmark have opposed any duties at all, saying these would hurt consumers and retailers.

France proposed a compromise which shortened the penalty's duration from five to two years. The proposal was adopted Wednesday.

Mandelson on Wednesday welcomed the vote, saying the tariffs were a reasonable response to anti-competitive behavior.

"It is very important that if we are going to stand up for free trade we keep in place defenses against unfair trade," the commissioner insisted.

"The decision was a necessary one because it follows the investigation we made into claims of dumping," he said.

According to EU statistics, from 2001 to 2005, Chinese leather shoes exports to the EU increased by 1,000 percent, while shoe imports from Vietnamese increased by 95 percent. On average, the unit price from the two countries fell by 28 percent.

Meanwhile, the European Commission says, the footwear produced within EU countries decreased by about 30 percent, while 40,000 European jobs in the sector were lost as low-cost shoe imports priced workers out of jobs.

But the measures have met harsh criticism from European retailers and consumers, which called for a halt to all new anti-dumping investigations.

"With the latest round of anti-dumping duties likely to push up the price of imported leather shoes from China and Vietnam... with a detrimental knock-on impact on the EU shoes market, low income families will be hit hardest," the European Consumers' Organization (BEUC) and EuroCommerce, which represents retailers and wholesalers EU-wide, said Tuesday in a joint statement.

"Some of Europe's producers are attempting to strangle trade reform to protect a few uncompetitive companies," the statement said.

"Reforming Europe's defunct trade defense system is long overdue. The current system adds to ever-growing costs for retailers and pushes up prices for customers," said Xavier Durieu, EuroCommerce Secretary General.

"Ultimately free global trade will contribute more to jobs and economic growth in Europe than protectionism ever can," he concluded.

Source: Xinhua