EU shoe-tax call angers China
By Darren Ennis |
December 23, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EUROPEAN Union ministers voted yesterday to extend import duties on shoes from China and Vietnam by 15 months.
The Brussels vote provoked an angry response from China and frustration among European retail groups.
The decision was made despite a vote on November 19 by the EU's anti-dumping committee, made up of senior trade officials from the 27 member states, to reject plans to extend the tariffs, which consumer groups say will lead to higher prices.
"The shoes proposal was adopted," an official involved in the talks in Brussels said.
The extended duties come into force from January 3 and amount to a 16.5 percent tariff on imports of Chinese leather shoes and 10 percent on those made in Vietnam.
China said it was unhappy with the decision and would take action via the World Trade Organization.
"China is extremely dissatisfied," Yao Jian, a spokesman for the Commerce Ministry, said in a statement on the ministry's Website.
"China opposes the EU extending anti-dumping measures in any shape, will appeal to the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism, and will take corresponding steps to earnestly protect the legal rights of Chinese industry."
Shoes made in China and Vietnam are estimated to make up 30 percent of the EU market.
"It seems ludicrous that the EU would want to artificially inflate the prices of shoes at a time when we are trying to encourage high street spending," said Robert Sturdy, a conservative member of the European Parliament. "This is a tax that will affect consumers and retailers."
The Brussels vote provoked an angry response from China and frustration among European retail groups.
The decision was made despite a vote on November 19 by the EU's anti-dumping committee, made up of senior trade officials from the 27 member states, to reject plans to extend the tariffs, which consumer groups say will lead to higher prices.
"The shoes proposal was adopted," an official involved in the talks in Brussels said.
The extended duties come into force from January 3 and amount to a 16.5 percent tariff on imports of Chinese leather shoes and 10 percent on those made in Vietnam.
China said it was unhappy with the decision and would take action via the World Trade Organization.
"China is extremely dissatisfied," Yao Jian, a spokesman for the Commerce Ministry, said in a statement on the ministry's Website.
"China opposes the EU extending anti-dumping measures in any shape, will appeal to the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism, and will take corresponding steps to earnestly protect the legal rights of Chinese industry."
Shoes made in China and Vietnam are estimated to make up 30 percent of the EU market.
"It seems ludicrous that the EU would want to artificially inflate the prices of shoes at a time when we are trying to encourage high street spending," said Robert Sturdy, a conservative member of the European Parliament. "This is a tax that will affect consumers and retailers."
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