The European Commission has delayed its decision on imposing a proposal for longer term anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese footwear as Member States have failed to agree on the proposal.

According to Peter Power, spokesperson for EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, “We have sought, while closely adhering to the rules, to balance the different economic interests of businesses, consumers and countries. Our first proposal was rejected by the shoe producing Member States as insufficient. Our revised proposal has clearly struck the middle ground of opinion in Europe with Member States evenly divided they will need further time to reach a conclusion."