EU anti-dumping steps on shoes would be painful: Vietnam
BRUSSELS - The EU would deal a painful blow to Vietnam if Brussels slaps anti-dumping measures on Vietnamese shoe producers, a top official from the country warned yesterday, seeking a "win-win" solution to the trade conflict.
The European Commission is currently studying whether there is a case for anti-dumping measures against Vietnamese and Chinese shoe exporters following a complaint from southern European producers such as Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Vietnamese deputy minister for foreign affairs Le Van Bang Bang stressed that the issue held huge stakes for his country, saying: "The footwear export industry has played an import role in the economic growth and alleviating poverty in Vietnam."
"Women working in the sector and their children would be the main victims should the EU turn its back on fair trade," he added.
The case has been simmering since the commission opened an anti-dumping probe on July 7, 2005, into Chinese and Vietnamese leather-upper and reinforced work shoes.
European Commission spokesman Peter Power said after Bang's visit that "the commission will take into account all of the economic imperatives involved".
However, he said that "it would premature to speak about any outcome" of the ongoing probe.
Bang insisted that Vietnam wanted to cooperate to find a solution.
"We have come here to ask for a win-win solution, a fair play that considers the interests of all sides," he said.
Agence France Presse - January 18, 2006.
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