Shoe vote goes against EU manufacturers
19/11/2009
Early unconfirmed reports from Brussels suggest that a vote among the 27 European Union (EU) member states on anti-dumping measures against imports of leather shoes from China and Vietnam has gone against a proposal to extend the duties.
Leather shoes from China and Vietnam have incurred duties (most recently of 16.5% and 10% respectively) on being imported into the EU since 2006 after the footwear manufacturing industry in Europe complained of unfair practices that allowed their Asian competitors to offer falsely low export prices.
The anti-dumping measures were for an initial two years, but last autumn, after looking at new evidence compiled by footwear manufacturers' organisations, the EU agreed to a formal review. It is the result of this review that member states have been asked to consider now.
Indications are that 10 member states voted in favour of the extension, but 15 voted against, with two abstaining.
This is not the end of the matter as the next step will be a review by EU Commissioners in the course of the next few days, after which the European Union's Council of Ministers must meet to hold a final vote. This meeting is expected to take place on December 22.
Retailers and some big footwear brands have lobbied hard to remove the duties, while groups representing manufacturers have consistently argued that they only want their members to be able to compete on a level platform. Some commentators, especially in northern Europe, appear to feel that there is little point in maintaining manufacturing of shoes in Europe, and that the entire focus of the industry there should be on keeping prices as low as possible for consumers.
However, the counter-argument is that, while the volume of shoes produced in Europe is lower, the value of shoes made there, especially in Italy, Spain and Portugal, is much higher, and there is demand for EU-made shoes among consumers who can afford them in all parts of the world.
Italy alone exported 90 million pairs of shoes in the first five months of 2009, earning $3.7 billion from them. In the same period, China exported 342 million pairs, earning $3.05 billion. New York-based research organisation The Luxury Institute publishes reports showing the most popular footwear brands among the most wealthy consumers. The lists for the US, for Europe and for China are totally dominated by Italian and French names (the French fashion houses design and make most of their shoes in Italy now). There are good reasons for that. Quality counts.
The editor of World Footwear, Stephen Tierney, told the Wall Street Journal on November 19: "Quality is improving in China and Vietnam, no question, and we believe the world is going to need all the shoe-making capacity it can get. But that doesn't mean we should throw away the beauty and style of the high-end shoes made from beautifully tanned leather by the artists and artisans of what remains of Europe's footwear manufacturing industry. It's a competitive market, but the only aim of the anti-dumping measures is to make the competition as fair as possible."
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