News published by Madic Staff

Pressure is building on EU countries to overcome their differences on what action to take before temporary anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese shoes imports expires in October.

Seeking to break the deadlock, the commission renewed a proposal -- already rejected in July by member states -- to impose a duty of 16.5 percent on some Chinese leather shoes and a duty of 10 percent on Vietnamese leather shoes.

Under current temporary action, Chinese-made leather shoes are subject to a 19.4 percent import duty while Vietnamese shoes face a duty of 16.8 percent.

Member states now have a month to review their positions on the duties and take a legally binding decision. But if they do not take a decision, the temporary measures will not be replaced when they lapse on October 6, leaving the door open for imports. The EU Trade Commissioner''s Peter Mandelson''s spokesman, Peter Power, said: "The commission has fulfilled its obligations and its responsibilities and has brought forward a sound proposal."

"It is now for member states to debate their position among themselves," he added.

A majority of member states, led by mostly northern free-market friendly countries, already shot down in July the commission proposal to impose duties, which they found to be too harsh. Power said that the July decision would "not necessarily be reflected by the decision the ministers take in the course of September."

After a 15-month investigation, the commission found that shoemakers in China and Vietnam unfairly benefited from state aid in the form of soft loans, tax breaks, cheap rents and overlooking fuzzy accounting.

As Chinese and Vietnamese imports swelled, European footwear production fell by nearly a third in the last five years, costing 40,000 jobs, according to the commission.

The proposed duties would effect about 11 percent of all shoes sold in the EU if they are implemented.