The Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) has criticised the EU’s proposal to apply anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese footwear. In a statement FESI said that it regretted the European Commission’s approval of a proposal for definitive anti-dumping duties on footwear imports as

European Union member states had already rejected an identical proposal in early August.

“We hope that European governments will vote down this protectionist proposal in September,” said Horst Widmann, president of FESI. “Most of them have understood that Europe should not sacrifice its competitiveness and the interest of consumers for the sake of shielding a handful of manufacturers from global competition.

“We have serious issues with the Commission’s technical analysis. Most member states agree with us and that was an additional reason to say no to the measures.”

“The proposed anti-dumping duties, if adopted, will translate into higher prices for European consumers,” said Mr Widmann. “Definitive measures are certainly not in the Community’s interest.”