EU to start a shoe war with China and Vietnam?

I warned of this back in February (see From 'bra wars' to 'shoe wars') and now it seems increasingly likely: a 'shoe war' with China and Vietnam. Clearly, the European Commisison has learned nothing from last year's bra wars debacle. Helena Spongenberg of the EU Observer website reports Brussels pushes ahead on China shoe tariffs:

The European Commission has pushed for new measures against leather shoes from China and Vietnam despite member states' representatives having rejected two previous proposals this summer.

A proposal by trade commissioner Peter Mandelson to levy a 16.5 percent duty on 'leather upper' shoes entering the EU market from China and 10 percent duty on those from Vietnam was adopted by the commission on Wednesday (30 August).

The proposal has now been put forward to the bloc's 25 trade ministers who have one month to decide on the issue before temporary duties expire.

The commission said the plan was an effort to combine the different economic interests while also respecting the evidence from a 15-month long commission investigation showing that Chinese and Vietnamese shoes received unfair subsidies from their governments.

European footwear production has shrunk by 30 percent since 2001, alongside the rise in imports dumped on the EU market below the real cost of production, according to a commission statement.

"Our job is to tackle unfair competition where it exists. We have found this in these two cases and that is why we have taken the measures that we have proposed," commission spokesman Peter Power told journalists in Brussels. "It is now up to the member states to take their responsibility to decide," Mr Power said, adding that the "case is complex and highly sensitive."

...When member states next month meet to decide on the proposal, at least 13 of them must back the plan or abstain from voting for it to come into effect when the provisional duties end on 6 October.

...EU member states are divided between northern European countries, which at an early stage moved their shoe factories to Asia and are now importing them, and southern European countries that still have an active shoe industry.

The commission warned that member states rejecting Wednesday's proposal "could in theory be challenged in court to legally defend their position."

Temporary tariffs expire in October, and EU members now have a month to decide whether to back the new move.

Comments

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If it were not an unkind remark, I would comment that once again the EU has found that "one size does not fit all".

[pgl]

Bad news for European customers, bad news for Chinese workers, but maybe this means more Chinese shoes being sold to American retailers. Well - as long as the Bush Administration doesn't decide to go for tariffs on Chinese footwear.

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