Apache Footwear in southern China's Guangdong Province has lodged an appeal
against the European Union's anti-dumping tariffs, company
officials said on Sunday.
Guo Weiwen, a manager of the company, said that they filed the
suit at the Court of First Instance, Europe's second-highest court,
on Friday.
Guo said they were among the only five of more than 1,200
affected Chinese shoemakers, which are continuing with the
proceedings.
Last week, four other Chinese shoe producers began legal action
over the EU's two-year anti-dumping duties of 16.5 percent on
leather shoes made in China beginning Oct. 7.
The four are Aokang Group and Taima Shoes Group from the eastern
Zhejiang Province, and Taiwan's Golden Step
Industrial Co, Ltd. and Hong Kong's Xinsheng Gangyuan Shoes Group
in Guangdong.
Guo said the EU had failed to routinely and impartially check
the prices at her company, and gave no explanations as to why the
company had been denied market economy status.
The EU's across-the-board duties on different companies were in
obvious violations of the laws and regulations of the World Trade
Organization and those of the EU itself, she said.
The Golden Step Industrial Co Ltd, the only Chinese shoemaker
with market economy status, is still subject to 9.7 percent
anti-dumping duties, said Guo.
"We were left with no other choice but to go to court," Wang
Zhentao, President of Aokang, China's largest privately owned
shoemaker, said earlier.
"The EU only reviewed ten Chinese shoemakers," said Pu Lingchen,
Aokang's lawyer. "Contrary to the common practice, it didn't send
Aokang any written explanations on why they failed to include the
company on the list of companies to be reviewed."
Pu, widely regarded as China's top anti-dumping lawyer, said the
EU's regulations on anti-dumping prescribed that the EU should
review the market economy status of all the companies involved.
Many insiders believe the case could last two to four years and
cost up to two million yuan (US$255,750).
As a result, 300 shoemakers in southeastern Fujian Province have abandoned their planned
lawsuit.
But Wang is still confident of winning the case.
"No matter how complicated the legal procedures are and how
tough our task is, we believe in justice," he said in late
October.
Chong Quan, spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce, has said
that the EU's anti-dumping measures against Chinese leather shoe
imports lacked "sufficient and factual evidence."
Su Chaoying, deputy director of the China Leather Association,
said, "The lawsuit will help Chinese shoemakers win more support
from shoe retailers and importers in the EU when the anti-dumping
case is reviewed in 2008."
Chen Lipeng, an official with Guangdong Foreign Trade Bureau,
said, "The lawsuits reflect more Chinese companies have begun to
deal with international trade frictions actively, and will help to
prevent other countries from imposing similar anti-dumping
duties."
(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2007)