| Footwear companies sue EU over tariff |
| Wednesday,January 10,2007 Posted: 08:01 BJT(0001 GMT) China Daily |
A group of Chinese shoemakers have sued the European Union over an anti-dumping tariff imposed on their products. Legal documents for four footwear companies have been sent to the European Court of First Instance in Brussels, according to their lawyer Pu Lingchen. He said five companies had filed the lawsuit, but would not reveal further details of the companies. The companies claim the European Union did not carry out its anti-dumping investigation properly. Last October, the European Union imposed a 16.5 percent anti-dumping tariff on leather shoes imported from China and Vietnam. The tariff will last for two years. The European Union sampled 10 companies from thousands of shoemakers during last year's investigation and gave only one of them market economy status Guangdong-based Golden Step Industrial Co Ltd. According to Pu, the key issue is the market economy status of companies not sampled in the investigation. Nearly 160 shoemakers applied for market economy status during the investigation and were not recognized. These firms received no response and were not investigated by the European Union before the anti-dumping tariff was imposed on their products. "While the dumping regulation requires each claimant to be reviewed individually, the enterprises not sampled were not examined properly," said Pu. Pu said the case before the European Commission would last for two years. "We must make our voice heard because if we keep silent we may face a higher tariff when the period is over," said Wang Zhentao, president of Aokang Group, the largest shoe producer in China and one of the firms leading the case. Since the tariff was imposed, exports have declined. According to Wei Yafei, spokeswoman for the China Leather Industry Association, the increase rate of leather shoes exported to the EU market dropped to about 3 percent from last June to November, compared to a rise of more than 17 percent during the same period in 2005. "The most obvious outcome is the decline of orders, and some enterprises have started making other types of shoes," Wei said. The industry said it welcomed the legal action, although experts encouraged enterprises to pay attention to product quality and structure. "Brand construction and keeping up-to-date with the industry remain the key issues for the shoe-making industry," said Su Chaoying, secretary-general of the leather industry association. Wang from the Aokang Group said the legal action could strengthen the European Union's understanding of the Chinese market and reduce trade disputes. According to Pu, the case is about "judgment of legal measures" and is neither confrontational nor a rebuke. (Source: China Daily) |
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