British paper criticizes EU imposition of anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnamese and Chinese shoes

19/04/2006
The British Sunday Times in its recent issue criticized the EU’s decision to impose anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnamese shoes, considering it as an act to cause great losses to the Vietnamese economy and European footwear producers.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson was quoted as saying that the initial tariff rate of 4 percent will take effect as of April 7 and will be raised to 19.4 percent and 16.8 percent for leather shoes imported from China and Vietnam respectively in September.


The paper confirmed that the decision not o­nly “dealt a devastating blow to the Vietnamese economy” but also the European leather shoe industry including Clarks firm from the UK.


The paper said half of 27 million leather pairs of shoes from Clarks sold in Europe annually are being produced in Vietnam. The EU’s imposition of anti-dumping tariffs will force Clarks to increase the price of a pair of shoes by 6-7 percent. It quoted Martin Salisbury, a member of the Clarks Management Board, as saying that the decision aimed at protecting the leather shoe industry in Italy, which specialises in producing expensive shoes has caused great difficulties to Vietnamese shoe makers despite Mr Mandelson’s previous statement to support the spirit of free trade.

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