China, Vietnam reject shoe-dumping duties
BEIJING - China and Vietnam called on the European Union on Friday to lift anti-dumping duties on their shoe exports, rejecting the step as a violation of free trade.
"China's shoe products aren't dumped, and they aren't harming European industry," said a statement issued by Chong Quan, the spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry.
China asked Europe "to treat Chinese industry fairly, conduct anew a reasonable analysis of this case, issue a judgment that conforms to WTO rules and protect the normal development of the Chinese-European shoe trade," Chong's statement said.
The European Union announced Thursday it will impose new duties on Chinese and Vietnamese shoes on April 7, starting at 4 percent and rising to 19.4 percent for Chinese shoes and 16.8 percent on Vietnamese footwear over six months.
In Hanoi, a Foreign Ministry spokesman denied that Vietnam's shoe makers were dumping their products and warned that the new duties could hurt foreign investors as well.
"The decision to impose anti-dumping duties on leather shoes imported from Vietnam to the EU market is unfair," said ministry spokesman Le Dung.
"This decision will negatively affect Vietnamese workers as well as EU consumers, the EU footwear retail industry and many EU footwear investors who are doing business in Vietnam," Le said.
Half of the 2.5 billion pairs of shoes sold in the EU last year came from China.
Chong, the Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman, complained that the duties "violate fair trade principles."
Also Friday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese shoemakers are trying to raise 3 million yuan ($375,000) to lobby against the European tariffs.
The money will pay for European lawyers to "plead our case against the duty," said Wu Zhenchang, president of the Guangdong Chuangxin Shoe Manufacturing Co., quoted by Xinhua.
The Associated Press - March 24, 2006.
China, Vietnam condemn European shoe tariffs
BEIJING - China and Vietnam condemned Europe's decision to impose anti-dumping duties on their leather shoe exports and defended their industries against allegations of unfair trade practices.
"The decision... lacks the support of facts and legal basis and breaches fair trade principles," Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Chong Quan said in a statement of Thursday's announcement by the European Commission.
"Chinese shoe export products have not constituted dumping, and have not caused actual damage to the European Union's manufacturing trade."
Chong described the European Commission's decision as "obviously discriminatory".
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Thursday the duties would be imposed on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes from April 7 because the governments and manufacturers there had been engaged in unfair trade practices.
The duties are to be imposed gradually over five months and will rise to 19.4 percent for leather shoes from China and 16.8 percent for leather shoes from Vietnam. Children's shoes are not covered by the measures.
Mandelson said the duties were needed because Chinese and Vietnamese manufacturers enjoyed state aid in the form of soft loans, tax breaks, low rents, fuzzy accounting and export incentives.
The Vietnamese government said it would lobby for the duties to be lifted, insisting its footwear industry had abided by free market principles.
"Vietnam will pursue its discussions with the European Commission in order to find a reasonable solution favorable to the interests of both sides," foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung said in a statement.
Senior Vietnamese trade ministry official Bui Son Dung said: "This is a very regrettable and irrational decision".
China's shoe making industry, the biggest in the world, also expressed anger and said they would hire European lawyers to argue their case with the European Union.
"I feel really angry because the excuses the EU gave are ridiculous," said Wu Zhenchang, a Chinese industry leader who helped set up a coalition of shoe makers to address the Europeans' concerns.
The Chinese shoe makers' coalition has set up a three million yuan (375,000 dollar) fund to appeal the decision.
"When we collect enough evidence we will propose the plea, probably at the beginning of April," said Wu, chairman of Chuangxin Footwear in southern China's Guangdong province, where around half of the nation's shoe exports are made.
China's state-run news agency said on Friday that Europe's decision would have a major impact on the local shoe making industry, with profit margins already extremely slim.
Chinese footwear exporters earn a profit of between five and 15 percent on shoes sold to the European Union, Xinhua said, citing the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products.
However it said ordinary Europeans would also be big losers because they would have to pay an extra four to six euros (4.8 to 7.20 dollars) for a pair of leather shoes, while supply to Europe could dry up.
Chinese leather shoes exports to the EU totalled 288 million dollars in value in 2004, according to Chinese statistics, and 730 million dollars based on EU calculations, commerce ministry officials said in a briefing this month.
In Vietnam, there were also concerns over the impact on the local industry.
The footwear industry is one of Vietnam's major hard-currency earning industries and employs more than 500,000 people, 80 percent of whom are women, state media said earlier.
The shoe developments follows a similar dispute between Europe and China last year over a wave of cheap clothing imports that severely tested relations.
The two sides put the dispute behind them only after much tough bargaining. Europe imposed new limits, but they were quickly met and then had to be renegotiated.
Agence France Presse - March 24, 2006.
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