China's leather footwear sector may become the second target of
European Union (EU) anti-dumping charges by as early as next month,
according to the China Leather Association.
"According to our information, the EU is proposing a new round
of anti-dumping investigations against a wide range of leather
shoes from China," said Wei Yafei, the association's
spokeswoman.
This anti-dumping probe, which is predicted to cover nearly 30
classes of shoes, could be a big blow to Chinese manufacturers.
"It will affect more than 1,000 shoe factories and millions of
jobs in the country," Wei said.
She added that her association has called on concerned
enterprises to be prepared to respond although the European
Commission has not yet published the official notice to initiate
the action.
In 2004, China exported shoes in the affected categories valued
at US$0.6 billion to EU countries.
This action would represent the second EU anti-dumping charge
against footwear originating in China in a month. A dumping probe
into two categories of work safety shoes was launched by the EU on
June 30 at the request of domestic shoe makers, particularly from
Italy and Spain.
To date, Chinese shoe manufacturers are actively responding to
the EU dumping charges, with nearly all Chinese shoe makers
involved.
The EU may also launch in the future dumping charges against
footwear materials from China.
The European Commission claims that six categories of Chinese
shoes, which were put under its inspection mechanism in February,
experienced a great surge in quantity and had certain declines in
unit prices in the past several months.
However, statistics from China's General Administration of
Customs shows that China's footwear exports to the European Union
(EU) stood at 257 million pairs in the first three months this
year, up 2.8 per cent year-on-year. The total value of the products
were US$726 million in the period, up 30.8 per cent
year-on-year.
(China Daily July 7, 2005)