Unfair trade threatens jobs in Brazil, Abicalçados warns
New figures put together by Brazil’s national footwear industry association, Abicalçados, show that retail groups and traders in the South American country brought in 22 million pairs of shoes from three Asian countries in the first 11 months of this year.
Abicalçados said imports from Vietnam, Indonesia and China had risen in volume by 11.5% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of value, the imports so far in 2023 have been worth $327 million, up by 26.6% year on year.
Shipments from the three Asian countries account for almost 83% of the volume of Brazil’s total footwear imports so far this year and for 79% of the value.
The organisation’s executive-president, Haroldo Ferreira, said: “We are not against imports, but we are against unfair competition. Shoes are coming into Brazil from Asia through illegal practices such as dumping, which is when manufacturers use a different pricing model in international markets, specifically with the aim of destroying domestic industry. This is harming the Brazilian footwear industry.”
He made the point that the footwear industry in Brazil directly employs around 300,000 people. Including jobs in the extended footwear supply chain takes the total to more than 1 million, he said.
“Unfair trade could cause a wave of job losses across the country,” Mr Ferreira warned.
