European shoe importers consider Austria’s approach in the EU conflict on anti-dumping customs duties on shoe imports from China and Vietnam counterproductive and dangerous.
Yesterday, Austria unexpectedly suggested a one-year extension of the provisional customs duties introduced in April 2006 to re-examine them afterwards. “This suggestion is completely incomprehensible, basically does not change anything and would have serious negative effects on the European shoe industries and their customers”, Paul Verrips, president of the Footwear Association of Importers and Retailchains (FAIR), is convinced. “It is still the same proposal that has already been dismissed by 14 EU Member States, including Austria. Merely the limitation has been amended.”
Austria’s abrupt change of position seems to be in close connection with Italian Prime Minister Prodi’s personal intervention. Italy and a few other southern European states hope to return a part of the far eastern shoe production back to Europe through the anti-dumping measures. “This is utterly illusive”, Verrips emphasises. “The duties have been in effect for half a year now, and there are no positive outcomes observable. Verifiable is, however, that import prices have risen in the first four month 2006 by 12 percent on shoes from China or even 19 percent on shoes from Vietnam. Anti-dumping customs duties impair the European customers to a considerable extent.”
Especially the preliminary limitation of the measures to one year, intended to form a compromise, evoked vehement disapproval throughout the association of European shoe importers. FAIR president Paul Verrips explains: “This limitation is as absurd and dangerous for the trade as the suggestion already dismissed. Moreover, it only lengthens uncertainty. For the trade, planning reliability is crucial. If the definite decision is delayed for another year, we do not know which additional costs we will have to face. From an operational point of view, this is an entirely unacceptable state the industry has been afflicted with from the beginning of the investigation.”
Within a very short period of time, this has already been the third proposal to anchor anti-dumping customs duties on a long-term basis. For Verrips, this is an indication for the fact that the EU Commission insists on implementing the anti-dumping measures, even if neither the European shoe industry nor the customers will benefit from them.
FAIR Footwear Association of Importers and Retailchains:
The association represents the interests of more than 100 footwear importers and retailers. Members are companies such as Columbia (France, USA), Clarks (United Kingdom), Deichmann (Germany), Wortmann (Germany), Leder & Schuh (Austria), Skechers (USA) und Vivarte (France), with a total of approximately 90.000 employees, which represent approximately 50 per cent of the import volume in the EU.
Filed under: Uncategorized on September 14th, 2007
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