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Last Updated:
Oct 9, 2009 - 9:36:22 AM |
The EU is expected to renew anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese shoe imports into Europe for another 15 months. Media reports in China say an official from the Ministry of Commerce has expressed pessimism about the future, given the current situation.
Anti-dumping duties on footwear were first imposed three years ago. EU anti-dumping measures involve import duties of 16.5 per cent on Chinese shoes with leather uppers.
An anti-dumping duty of 10 per cent applies to imports from Vietnam.
Last May, China's commerce minister offered a veiled warning to Europe's high-end footwear manufacturers as he lobbied Brussels to reverse anti-dumping tariffs. Chen Deming's comments came at a two-day EU-China trade meeting in Brussels.
"China is under great pressure to protect its industry," Chen said. "The EU should respond positively to our common goal of free and fair trade by immediately announcing the end of the anti-dumping measures on footwear."
Europe is split on a north-south basis on the issue as shoe manufacturers are concentrated in Italy and Spain while big retailers in the northern countries and multinational brand manufacturers who use China as a cheap base production base, oppose the move.
“Prices have increased by on average at least 10 per cent since the imposition of the duties in 2006,” the European Footwear Alliance, representing manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas and Timberland, said this week.
Baroness Ashton, Europe’s trade commissioner, has recommended the extension to the European Commission.
Her predecessor, Peter Mandelson, had set the tariff in 2006 and it's viewed as having stabilised market share for struggling European footwear makers.
The Commission claims that prices only increased by 1.5% as a result of the tariffs.
According to EU statistics, European producers’ share of the EU market fell from 65 per cent to 40 per cent between 2001 and 2005.
The average shoe industry wage in Southern China is RMB 960 (£87, €95, $140) a month.
The Pearl River delta region of Guangdong, accounts for about a third of national shipments and exports fell 18.3% in the first six months of this year from 2008, to $153.4bn. However, that is more than the province generated in the first half of 2006, which was viewed as a very good year for China’s exporters.
A supervisor with 10 years experience and with responsibility for dealing with export customers, can earn $350 a month; a factory operative would earn up to $150.
