There are no guarantees that European Union (EU) Trade
Commissioner Peter Mandelson could produce by early October an
anti-dumping plan on Chinese and Vietnamese shoes which is
acceptable to most EU member states, his spokesman Peter Power
admitted Friday.
Fourteen of the bloc's 25 member states on Thursday voted
against the second proposal put forward by Mandelson which if
adopted will come into effect on October 7 as the definitive
anti-dumping measures on leather shoes from the two Asian
countries.?
The proposal foresees a blanket duty of 16.5 percent on Chinese
leather shoe imports and 10 percent on Vietnamese imports.
It would also affect children's shoes -- defined as sizes below
38 -- which are not included in provisional anti-dumping measures
enforced as of April 7.
Definitive measures are expected to remain in place for five
years.
"Anti-dumping measures are extremely sensitive and member states
have different views on the subject," Power said at a daily press
briefing on Friday.
A number of EU states including Nordic countries, Britain and
the Netherlands, which mainly import shoes from overseas, have
spoken out against anti-dumping duties on shoes from China and
Vietnam, calling them "protectionist."
However, time is short as the current provisional duties run out
on October 7. Power said new measures would "clearly need to be in
place before that date" but noted that the European Commission
would not rush into a final deal on the issue.
The commission, the EU's executive body, said in March that its
investigation found widespread violation of international trade
rules in China and Vietnam, which results in shoes being exported
at below-cost prices.
It then agreed to levy provisional anti-dumping duties on the
two Asian countries for six months starting from April, which are
to be followed by definitive ones in the next five years.
The move drew criticism from both within and out of the EU.
European importers and retailers said the measures would hurt
consumers and eventually harmful to EU's economy.
?
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2006)