Chinese Shoe Exports To Europe Slump

AOKANG group, which has filed anti-dumping proceedings from the EU to the European Union recently, was informed that the European Court of first instance has recently concluded the first round of defense proceedings against anti-dumping proceedings filed by Chinese shoe manufacturers.

China's appeal shoe companies such as AOKANG group, Wenzhou Tamar, Guangdong golden shoe and new HK dollar have received the first written reply from the European Union Ministerial Council and other interested parties forwarded by the first instance court of the European Union.

This means that the second round of defence procedures will start immediately, and the time will be one year.

The EU anti-dumping case against Chinese shoes has inspired Chinese shoe companies to argue, but last October 7th, the EU began to impose anti-dumping duties on leather shoes originating in China for a two-year period of 16.5%.

AOKANG group took the lead in deciding to hire a lawyer to initiate a lawsuit.

At the end of last year, AOKANG group, together with Wenzhou's Tamar, Guangdong golden shoe and Guangdong freshman Hong Kong dollar and other shoe companies, filed litigation materials to the first instance court of the European Union.

It is reported that after the court of first instance accepts the litigation request of Chinese footwear enterprises, the two rounds of defense will take place for two years.

"In the first round of reply, the EU Council made a defense reply to the lawsuit filed by Chinese shoe enterprises one by one.

However, the European Commission did not enter the judicial process as a stakeholder, but only retained the right of oral defense.

In April, the European Commission once submitted to the court of first instance of the European Union as a "stakeholder intervention and support for the Council of the European Union".

In July, the European Footwear Association and 17 shoe manufacturers in Italy also made requests and intervened in the judicial process.

It is understood that in the second round of defense, the Chinese side will mainly defend the defense points raised by the accused party in the first round of defense, such as the technical problems of dumping calculation, and how to apply the sampling investigation procedure.

Although the EU anti-dumping lawsuit has not yet come to an end, the implementation of the anti-dumping duty has brought a heavy blow to the export of Chinese shoes to Europe.

According to the data provided by China Light Industry Association, China's anti-dumping duties on leather shoes in the first half of this year amounted to only 86 million pairs of EU exports, a sharp drop of 26.37% compared to the same period last year, and the export volume was 943 million US dollars, down 21.36%.

What worries the Chinese shoe companies is that there are signs that the EU's demand for Chinese leather shoes is being replaced by other countries.

Shortly after the end of the autumn fair, there were exhibitors shoes enterprises revealed that many European customers have pferred to Pakistan, Indonesia, India and other places procurement.

Recently, the industry in Austria analyzed in detail the market reaction of the EU after the implementation of anti-dumping duties in China over the past year, and found that the import of cheap footwear did not decrease, but only from China to other countries.

Therefore, the industry said that China's footwear industry mainly relies on labor and low cost as a competitive advantage. The EU has implemented the so-called trade protection measures, claiming that in order to avoid the impact of the European shoe industry, it is now clear that this statement is of no practical significance.

Wang Zhentao, vice president of the China Leather Association and President of AOKANG group, said: "this result is obviously contrary to their original intention. The EU should reflect deeply."