EU Expands Probe of Footwear Imports
The European Union widened a probe into Asian footwear imports, saying Chinese and Vietnamese producers might be unfairly undercutting European rivals in the bloc’s $15.5-billion leather shoe market.
The decision to probe leather footwear, which follows a June 30 move to scrutinize the prices of Chinese safety shoes, adds to a series of trade disputes with China. The two governments last month reached an agreement to limit exports of Chinese textiles and clothing to protect European producers.
“If as a result of the inquiry we’re satisfied there are dumping practices which cause material injury, action will be considered,” EU trade spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said Thursday.
China’s emergence as an industrial economy has also provoked tensions in the U.S., prompting calls from lawmakers and the Bush administration for a revaluation of the yuan. The U.S. has imposed curbs on Chinese garments and successfully pressured the EU to shelve a planned lifting of a ban on arms trade with China.
The Confederation of the Footwear Industry, a lobby group representing 14,000 European shoe manufacturers, is demanding so-called anti-dumping measures as protection from cheap imports. The group says Chinese shoes are being unfairly sold below the cost of production in the 25-nation EU.
“The large amount they’re putting on the market and especially the decrease in prices is disturbing the market and it’s no longer fair trade,” said Jan Somers, a project manager at the shoe lobby.
“I hope the necessary measures will be taken as soon as possible,” he said, adding that his group doesn’t plan to request a further widening of the probe.
Similar protests by textile makers, backed by national governments in countries including Italy and France, spurred EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to use a special World Trade Organization rule to negotiate curbs on Chinese apparel. China’s commerce ministry on June 25 objected that the EU was distorting trade figures in its investigations. The EU has refused to recognize China as a market economy, allowing it to disregard the country’s own data in trade probes.
Imports account for 40% of the EU’s market for leather shoes by value. Sales of leather shoes from China in the first quarter were worth $467 million compared with $734 million for all of 2004 when quotas limited the footwear, Veron-Reville said. EU imports of Vietnamese leather shoes totaled $339 million in the first quarter, compared with $1.9 billion last year, she said.
China’s share of total EU imports of leather shoes by volume is 22%, up from 6% in 2002, and Vietnam accounts for 15%, compared with 11% three years ago. Prices for the products imported from China have dropped 44% to $9.20 a pair in the same period, Veron-Reville said.
