LONDON: Some of the world? best known shoe companies such as Clarks and Timberland yesterday condemned plans by Brussels to impose tariffs of up to 20% on leather footwear imports from China and Vietnam.
The European Branded Footwear Coalition (EBFC), whose members employ 16,700 people in Europe, said the European Commission risked repeating the mistake of last summer? ?ra wars?over textile imports.
?BFC members wonder why the Commission seems determined to give its citizens high-priced shoes in time for Christmas,?it said.
Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, will tell the 25 member states tomorrow he plans to slap a 4% tariff on imports from 7 April rising to almost 20% by October.
The EBFC said a flat-rate tax would hit high-price shoes, much of whose value was generated in Europe, and urged Mandelson to use a minimum import price that would target low-priced shoes.
?e are concerned that setting the duty at a rate that cannot be absorbed by manufacturers and retailers will ultimately be borne by European consumers,?it said, adding that the industry was putting together its pre-Christmas orders.
Clarks, the UK shoe giant, said: ?wenty percent would be difficult to swallow,?a spokesman said.
?e will have to work very hard with suppliers and supply chains and profitability. To what extent consumer prices will have to rise and retail job lost ?it is too early to comment but this will have to be some pain shared.?BR>Clarks said that while the manufacturers began their complaints at an opportune time, when the exchange rate was strong and the retail sector was relatively buoyant, the climate had since changed dramatically.
?his is an extra slug of cost that has to be absorbed somehow,?the spokesman said.
The Commission does not need approval for the provisional measure, although it is looking for a consensus among member states. Denmark has expressed its opposition.
The UK? Department of Trade and Industry, which abstained in the vote over imposing quotas on textiles in 2005, said it was ?n close contract?with interested bodies in the UK.
?e will consult with them once we receive the EU proposals but at this stage it is just speculation,?a spokesman said.
