China Request WTO Panel On EU Shoe Tariff
By: Ainsley Brown
The trade skirmish that has erupted between China and the European Union over shoe tariffs has been one that I have being following very closely here on Commercial Law international. And, yes you guessed it, each side continues to exchange salvoes; the latest being China moving from the consultative stage of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute resolution procedure to the next stage, which is the request for the formation of a WTO Panel (tribunal) – click here for a break down of the WTO’s dispute resolution process.
As far as the Chinese concerned the 16.5% duty imposed by the EU violates WTO rules by being protectionist, namely the EU has not demonstrated that is shoe industry has or will suffer material damage from Chinese imports. The EU for its part has countered with the claim that its anti-dumping measures are not protectionist and are WTO compliant.
It will be interesting to see who will prevail in the end.
As an interesting aside a new front – an internal EU – has recently opened up in this battle and has to be watched closely. The Federation of European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), the organization that represents many EU based sporting goods manufactures such as Adidas, Fila, Nike and Umbro, last month has taken the EU Commission to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The FESI has launched suit in the belief that “the EU’s decision to extend the duties for a further 15 months in December 2009was based on inappropriate investigation and a flawed analysis of the facts,” according to its own press release.
It will be interesting to see what influences either proceeding will have other the other. For example what if the ECJ sides with the FESI, on what basis would the EU then justify the continuation of the duties at the WTO if its own internal court has ruled against it?
Lastly it will also be very interesting to watch if the Vietnamese, affected by the same tariffs, will join the Chinese in their complaint and how this would affect the recently launched EU-Vietnam trade talks?
All very interesting, indeed!
