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Anti-dumping duties by EU draw criticism
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-06 08:28
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It added that the new anti-dumping duties shelter uncompetitive producers, do not create one job, make consumers poorer and hurt companies. They also worsen the EU-China trade relationship, it said.
"Europe's future is in innovative value-added products, not in old-fashioned protectionism," the statement said.
The Foreign Trade Association (FTA), which has trading companies as members in nearly all European countries, also attacked the decision.
"This is a major disappointment for European retailers and a serious blow to European consumers," FTA Secretary-General Jan Eggert said in a release.
"The measures that will now be imposed will not benefit the European manufacturing industry but could very likely lead to job losses to retailers and importers and an increase in consumer prices."
The decision was approved by a slight margin at a meeting of permanent representatives of the 25 EU nations in Brussels. Nine countries voted in favour and 12 were against, with four countries abstaining. Under EU law, abstentions in such cases count as in favour of the proposal as they do not oppose it.
The FTA expressed reservations over the way the decision was made, calling the voting system "a peculiarity."
"This type of wheeling and dealing involved in implementing European Commission legislation such as anti-dumping duties must stop," Eggert said.
"This decision will affect millions of ordinary consumers across the European Union. The way in which it has been taken is an illustration of just how necessary the current review of the Anti-Dumping Regulation is, and I hope, for the benefit of those consumers, that the Commission considers our views seriously."
The deal was approved after France revised a European Commission proposal that would have left the tariff rates in place for five years.
Half of the 2.5 billion pairs of shoes sold in the EU last year came from China. The extra charges affect about 174 million pairs.
China Daily - Agencies
(China Daily 10/06/2006 page1)