China'S Shoes Increase Technical Content, Raise Prices, Deal With EU Anti-Dumping Duties

In October this year, the EU imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 16.5% on Chinese leather shoes for just one year.

Yesterday (October 16th), reporters at the Canton Fair shoes and hats exhibition hall found that many shoe companies said that although the price of raw materials, export tax rebates, RMB appreciation and other factors, but not ready to raise prices, "up to 0.5% of the price increase, because the EU after anti-dumping duties can only rely on old customers, new customers are very difficult to develop."

China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of footwear products. Before the previous Canton Fair, the area and quantity of footwear products showed an upward trend each time, and the current more than 1300 seats were basically the same as the previous one.

To some extent, the number of booth can reflect the impact of the EU's anti-dumping duties on Chinese shoes.

Status quo: China's export of European leather shoes has dropped sharply. According to the data provided by the China Light Industry Arts and crafts import and export chamber, the number of imports of leather shoes anti-dumping products in the EU has declined in 1~6 this year, down 7.76% from the same period last year.

Among them, imports from China and Vietnam, which have imposed anti-dumping duties, have declined, the number of imports from China is 86 million pairs, and the import amount is 943 million US dollars, respectively, which is 26.37% and 21.36% lower than the same period last year.

In this regard, a manager of AOKANG import and export company has said that many European customers have been lost to Vietnam and Pakistan. "Because 16.5% of the tariffs are on European dealers, a larger customer in Italy has interrupted our cooperation because they are very demanding on price."

A person from Huidong's leather shoes business told reporters that although the export tax rebate policy has been adjusted this year, coupled with the appreciation of the renminbi and the price rise of raw materials, they are not prepared to raise the price substantially. She said: "the maximum increase is 0.3% to 0.5%, which is an annual increase in normal range. We will not shift the cost rising factor to the importer. Now we rely mainly on our old customers, the EU's anti-dumping policy has great impact on new customers, and the tax rate is too high."

(EU) in order to avoid the impact of low dumping on the European shoe industry, is it practical to implement quota restrictions?

By analyzing the market reaction of the European Union after the implementation of this measure in recent years, the industry in Austria found that the import of cheap footwear has not been reduced. Producers will shift their production to other countries such as Indonesia, India and Macao, China, or use other materials instead of leather. This result runs counter to the original intention of the EU. The Austrian footwear industry criticizes the punitive tariffs imposed by the EU, and believes that the EU should reflect deeply on it.

To tackle this problem, many Chinese shoe companies also said they did not want to go past the old road of low price and low quality.

According to the insiders, in the past, some small shoe enterprises were making leather shoes, "one pair of shoes earned only one or two cents, but one wore them bad". Such enterprises could not survive under the EU's anti-dumping policy.

Reporters at the Canton Fair saw that leather shoes with high technological content are increasing.

A shoe manufacturer in Wenzhou has introduced nanotechnology's odorless, breathable and environmentallable leather shoes. According to the company's head, "this pair of leather shoes export from a dozen to twenty dollars per pair."

And the head of AOKANG leather shoes also said: "our leather shoes export price is about $20 per pair, and the profit can be 10%. The price is high. Many buyers are surprised that we can set such a high price."

Besides, "going abroad" to set up factories abroad is also the consensus of many large shoe enterprises.

According to industry sources, setting up factories in foreign countries can avoid the problem of excessive anti-dumping and tariffs. For example, the EU's normal tariffs on Russia and India are much lower than that in China. The tariffs on footwear in India are 2 percentage points lower than that in China.

For example, Kangnai leather shoes have already set up a new production base in Russia, and AOKANG leather shoes also indicate that there are plans to set up factories in India in the next few years.