UPDATE: EU Seen Extending China,Vietnam Shoe Duties By 15 Months
08 10월 2009 - 7:57PM
Dow Jones News
The European Commission is likely to propose a 15-month
extension of controversial duties on shoes made in China and
Vietnam, European Union diplomats said, despite broad opposition
from major shoe corporations and many European governments.
The commission, the E.U.'s executive arm, is expected to argue
that Chinese and Vietnamese shoe companies are clearly shipping
their products to the E.U. at below market prices - especially
compared with the price of shoes made in other developing countries
such as India, Brazil and Indonesia.
The commission is also expected to argue that the duties, which
are 16.5% on Chinese and 10% on Vietnamese shoes, have cost
European consumers only EUR1.50 per pair of shoes.
Global corporations such as Adidas (ADS.XE) and one of Adidas'
main suppliers, the giant Hong Kong-based shoe manufacturer Yue
Yuen Industrial Holdings LTD. (0551.HK), have fought hard to end
the duties, which were put in place in October 2006 and are set to
expire last year.But European shoemakers in June 2008 asked the
commission to extend the duties, and the commission agreed to
examine the issue.
The commission's proposal has been circulated to other parts of
the commission and will be distributed to the shoemakers and the
large shoe importers Friday, E.U. officials said.
It will be discussed at a meeting of E.U. trade experts in
November and must be approved by the European Council. If the
duties are cleared they will come into force at the beginning of
January 2010.
It's unclear whether the council will approve an extension of
the duties. European shoemakers tend to be small and medium-sized
businesses, concentrated in Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain and
Poland. Those governments and a few others will support extending
the duties, but many other E.U. countries oppose them.
-By Matthew Dalton, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 1487; matthew.dalton@dowjones.com