European Union is currently conducting investigations in to large-scale imports of certain footwear categories, which follows the textiles issue that recently subsided.
European Branded Footwear Coalition (EBFC), which represents organizations and brands from Europe, issued a warning over the investigation stating that such measure would create a negative impact on the European Union industries.
Of prime concern for the Council is the fact that it (EU) targets all leather footwear imported from China and Vietnam.
Duties will affect all categories of footwear irrespective of quality or price, EBFC claimed.
The Council claims that the very basis of investigation is "flawed" as the impact of currency exchange rates is not considered.
Besides, local manufacturers will not be in a position to cater to the market demands of Europe.
On the effects side, the EBFC noted that European consumers would have to pay more and will have restricted for high quality and fashionable footwear.
Another impact the EBFC notes, is that the industry may face job losses on dropping sales, akin to those faced by the apparel industry recently.
The European Branded Footwear Coalition is comprised of prominent European and global footwear companies that market high-quality footwear in the European Union including Clark's, ECCO, Timberland, Kenneth Cole, Caterpillar Footwear, Merrell, Rockport, Hush Puppies, Sebago, Teva, Ugg and Simple.
