The European Commission backed a plan today for anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from China and Vietnam but left it up to divided European Union member states to argue over whether to go ahead.
EU trade chief Peter Mandelson won support from fellow commissioners for five-year duties of 10 per cent and 16.5 per cent for leather footwear from Vietnam and China respectively.
The proposal needs approval by EU countries within a month, ahead of the October 6th expiry of preliminary duties on the leather shoes. Without backing, the tariffs will lapse.
The Commission said earlier this year it had evidence of state intervention by China and Vietnam that unfairly helped their exporters, a charge denied by both countries.
The EU's 25 member states are split over the duty plan. Some, including the traditionally pro-free trade Nordics, say there is no need for any punitive duties, while countries with their own shoe industries have called for tougher measures.
A majority of anti-dumping experts from EU governments earlier this month rejected Mr Mandelson's proposal. But shoe-making Italy has reluctantly agreed to support the plan and is now pushing other countries also to accept it, arguing that the tariffs are the best it could expect to get.
A previous proposal for dealing with the Chinese and Vietnamese imports was also rejected by EU member states.
The Commission said member states which reject the duties could be challenged in court, as in a cotton dispute in 1998. Unlike the provisional tariffs, the five-year duties would also apply to children's shoes after importers were found to be fraudulently importing women's shoes as children's footwear.
Specialised sports shoes would be exempt as they are not produced in the EU, the Commission said in a statement.