European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in
Brussels on Thursday that the European Union (EU) "favors dialogue"
in handling trade disputes with China.
"It's possible to resolve the dispute through dialogue," said
Barroso at a press conference prior to the EU summit.
Earlier on Thursday, the European Commission officially adopted
provisional anti-dumping measures on Chinese and Vietnamese leather
shoes which will be effective from April 7 for about six
months.
Barroso said the EU "favors dialogue" and "cooperation" in
handling trade disputes with "such an important partner as China"
citing the example of the successful handling of the textiles issue
with China last year.
According to the EU's executive the anti-dumping duties are to
be phased in over six months starting at 4.8 percent and rising to
19.4 percent for Chinese shoes and from 4.2 percent to 16.8 percent
for Vietnamese footwear. But children's shoes and high-tech sports
footwear will be excluded from the tariffs.
Barroso defended the EU's decision saying that the move was
"necessary" and the decision was made after "vigorous
investigation" and was supported by the majority of EU member
states.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2006)
?