EU Votes To Continue Chinese Shoe Tariff
By: Ainsley Brown
The European Union (EU) voted this week to continue the anti-dumping duties it put on certain Chinese and Vietnamese footwear imported in the EU.
In a previous post, I speculated that the EU would vote to discontinue the tariffs – boy was I ever wrong. And the EU’s decision has not gone unnoticed in the EU and elsewhere.
The 16.5% and 10% tariff on Chinese and Vietnamese respectively, originally imposed in 2006, will be further extended for another 15 months. According to the EU its traditional shoe manufacturers, many of which are located in southern EU countries, need the continued protection of the anti-dumping duties in order to continue their adjustments to new market realities, largely through the implementation of new technologies.
The decision has pitted so-called retail nations (e.g. Britain and Sweden) against so-called manufacturing nations (Italy and Spain) against each other. The manufactures clearly want the duties continued and retailers do not – but if it were only that simple? While the retail/manufacturer split is best seen as a term of art it also reflects official policy groupings, a clash between traditional artisan and consumerism cultures, and a north/south geographic split within the EU. All of these “splits” have caused serious discord, in this and on other issues, within the EU and therefore have to be taken seriously.
However, this split should not be over stated because it is not absolute. There are for example elements within the manufacturing nations that would have been happy to see the duties done away with. Likewise, in the retail nations there are those that are pleased to see the tariff extended.
The EU decision has not gone unnoticed and has brought a swift response from China. The Chinese are have threatened to take the EU to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in what no doubt it will see as a usurpation of its rights.
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