Fifth Chinese Shoemaker Joins Suit Against EU

Posted 02 January 2007 @ 10:32 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

BEIJING (AP) - A fifth Chinese shoemaker, Taiwan-invested Apache Footwear, has joined a lawsuit against the European Union over anti-dumping duties imposed on its products, state media has said.

Guo Weiwen, manager of the company located in the booming southern province of Guangdong, told Xinhua news agency the suit was filed Friday at the Court of First Instance, Europe's second-highest court located in Luxembourg.

Late last month, four other Chinese companies including the Aokang Group, the biggest private producer in the country, filed suits at the court. The companies claim that EU regulators failed to examine their prices properly before the anti-dumping tariffs were introduced.

In all, 1,200 Chinese companies are affected by the tariffs, with most of the rest opting out of launching court action due to the high cost of litigation, according to Chinese media. The EU imposed a 16.5 percent anti-dumping tariff on imports of Chinese shoes with leather uppers beginning October 7.

The step provoked strong opposition from Chinese shoemakers and the government in Beijing, which said the measures did not conform with EU and World Trade Organization regulations.

While Chinese shoemakers are faced with anti-dumping measures, European consumers vote with their feet, buying huge numbers of Chinese shoes. China exported 1.2 billion pairs of shoes to EU countries in 2005, according to previously released data.