EU Maintains Anti-Dumping Duties On Chinese Shoes, Wenzhou Shoe Companies Prepare To Protest

The European Commission announced on October 2nd that the EU will temporarily maintain anti-dumping duties on leather shoes produced by the two countries as a result of the initiation of anti-dumping review procedures for leather shoes in China and Vietnam.

The decision means that the EU's 16.5% year anti-dumping duty on leather shoes and children's shoes imported from China in 2006 will be extended for another 12 to 15 months.

Mandelson, a spokesman for the European Union Trade Commissioner, said that the EU will investigate the export of leather shoes from China and Vietnam to Europe, and the anti-dumping duties will be maintained until the investigation is completed.

According to experience, the European Union's investigation usually takes about 12 to 15 months.

However, a spokesman for Mandelson said the EU hoped to complete the investigation ahead of time and promised that if the investigation found that anti-dumping duties should be abolished, the EU would return to the relevant additional duties.

In order to protect the interests of some footwear enterprises in southern European countries, the EU has imposed a 16.5% anti-dumping duty on leather shoes and children's shoes imported from China since October 7, 2006 and imposed a 10% anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese leather shoes. This measure will expire this month.

The EU is now launching anti-dumping review procedures, and will actually extend anti-dumping duties for 12 to 15 months.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that China regretted the EU's anti-dumping investigation into Chinese leather shoes. The Chinese government opposes the European side's extension of the anti-dumping measure in any form.

Wenzhou shoe enterprises have further complained that Wenzhou, one of the two largest domestic shoe export bases, was seriously injured in the EU's anti-dumping measures for two years.

Especially this year, influenced by a series of factors, Wenzhou shoes enterprises obviously feel the chill.

According to Xie Rongfang, Secretary General of Wenzhou shoe leather industry association, in the 1-6 month of this year, Wenzhou shoes exports to the EU only increased by 14.4%, a sharp decline compared with the same period last year, and the growth rate in August continued to drop to 9%.

Since the EU only imposed anti-dumping restrictions on genuine leather shoes, two years ago, Wenzhou's shoes exported to the EU were pformed from genuine leather to non leather shoes. At the same time, the middle and low grade synthetic leather shoes opened the American market weakened by the subprime mortgage crisis.

However, these measures still can not stop the speed of Wenzhou shoe enterprises' failure. The statistics of Wenzhou shoe leather industry association show that there are more than 70 shoe factories in the first quarter of this year, and the two or three quarter shoe enterprises have gone bankrupt.

Xie Rongfang disclosed that in 2003, the association grasped the data that there were about 5000 shoe enterprises in a certain scale in Wenzhou, and in the first quarter of this year, the figure turned to 2600.

It is understood that Chen Guorong, chairman of Wenzhou footwear export and Export Commission, is striving to cancel anti-dumping duties as soon as possible in the EU. Kangnai, AOKANG, Dongyi, Tamar and other leading enterprises are actively preparing materials, and will apply to the EU for market economy status in recent days, that is, to lodge a protest against the European Union.