European leather footwear manufacturers win weekly monitoring promise
There have been new developments in the debate on anti-dumping measures against imports to the European Union of leather shoes from China and Vietnam.
Existing measures, which impose duties of 16.5% on imports from China and 10% on those from Vietnam, will expire on March 31. At the start of the year the National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers (ANCI), issued a statement saying: “It is fundamental for the European Commission to evaluate with the necessary objectivity whether the conditions exist—as we believe [they do] beyond any question—for renewing the anti-dumping duties on leather footwear, which will expire at the end of March.”
At a meeting of the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC) on January 10, Vito Artioli, who is president of CEC and of ANCI, was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We no longer have the support of EU governments and if we go on like this (asking for extensions) we will lose, for sure.”
In a further statement released by ANCI in the days following this, Mr Artioli said that the footwear manufacturing industry in Europe still had confidence that the Commission would apply new anti-dumping measures if there was new evidence of unfair competitive practice on the part of China and Vietnam. Furthermore, he said that the Commission had promised to monitor imports of leather footwear every week from the start of April.
“The European Commission committed itself to making sure that the Chinese and Vietnamese authorities act in accordance with the international standards, ensuring commercial and competitive practices that comply with the rules and at the same time guaranteeing European footwear equal access to their respective markets,” Vito Artioli said. “The Commission will therefore take this issue to the highest levels of the Chinese and Vietnamese authorities in the course of quarterly meetings. The expiration of the anti-dumping duties against leather footwear imports from China and Vietnam, set for 31 March 2011, is not going to make us lower our guard.”
He added: “We believe that the anti-dumping duties imposed on Chinese and Vietnamese leather footwear imports were fair, legal and strictly necessary to restore competitive trade conditions. However, today, in a political climate not favourable to manufacturers, and different from December 2009 when the anti-dumping measures were renewed, the commitment of the European Commission in favour of fair and competitive trade should be supported and for this reason the real intentions of these two manufacturing countries must be verified. If the dumping continues and is ascertained, the Commission is already set to apply new anti-dumping duties.”
He confirmed that CEC has decided to abstain from requesting a reopening of the investigation into dumping of leather footwear (selling shoes for a cheaper price in export markets than at home). If the weekly monitoring activity of the European Commission shows the continuation of the problem, ANCI and CEC will take steps to make sure the Commission sets “specific, immediate actions in motion to protect the European footwear industry”, he said.
SOURCE: leatherbiz.com