China's shoe makers said they would appeal Europe's decision to slap anti-dumping tariffs on their leather products amid concerns the duties would have a major impact on local industry.
In Vietnam, which will also face higher shoe export tariffs following yesterday's European Commission's announcement , the government condemned the decision as 'irrational' and said it would lobby for the duties to be lifted.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the duties would be imposed on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes from April 7 because the governments and manufacturers in those countries had been engaged in unfair trade practices.
The duties are to be imposed gradually over five months and will rise to 19.4% for leather shoes from China and 16.8% for leather shoes from Vietnam. Children's shoes are not covered by the measures.
Mandelson said the duties were needed because Chinese and Vietnamese manufacturers enjoyed state aid in the form of soft loans, tax breaks, low rents, fuzzy accounting and export incentives.
Chinese shoe manufacturers have set up a three million yuan ($375,000) fund to appeal the decision and they hope to present their case to the European Union next month. China's state-run news agency said that Europe's decision would have a major impact on the local shoe making industry, with profit margins already extremely slim.
Chinese leather shoes exports to the EU totalled $288m in value in 2004, according to Chinese statistics, and $730m based on EU calculations, officials said.
The footwear industry is one of Vietnam's major hard-currency earning industries. The sector provides jobs for more than half a million laborers, 80% of them women, state media said.
The shoe tariffs follows a similar dispute between Europe and China last year over a wave of cheap clothing imports that severely tested relations. The two sides put the dispute behind them only after much tough bargaining. Europe imposed new limits, but they were quickly met and then had to be renegotiated.
