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Vietnamese shoemakers face growing threat of bankruptcy
Some 40,000 workers have lost their jobs since anti-dumping duties were imposed on Vietnamese leather-capped shoes by the European Commission (EC) in 2006, according to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso).
According to the latest Lefaso report, bankruptcy has threatened 100 of the 400 leather and leather shoe manufacturers in Vietnam since the EC imposed the anti-dumping duty from July 2006 to October 2008.
The EC levied the 10 percent tax on Vietnamese shoes after it charged the Vietnamese leather shoe industry devalued prices of its products in the EU market.
Many companies have reduced output because of lost contracts with European partners that now send their orders to other nations.
Leather shoe exports to the EU market reached over 120 million of pairs in 2005, but the number fell to 107 million pairs in 2006 and 91 million pairs in 2007, according to Nguyen Duc Thuan, Lefaso deputy chairman.
Thuan said the Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed once again that Vietnamese leather shoe manufacturers did not devalue the price of leather shoes. He maintained that the export of Vietnamese goods has not hurt or threatened the interests of the footwear industry in Europe .
The additional taxes on Vietnamese footwear was not fair, and did not reflect the benefits of cheap labour and modern technology in the industry, he said.
According to Thuan, the duties have seriously hurt the local footwear industry and workers’ lives, and even had wide-ranging effects on the country’s socio-economic development.
The duties mean higher prices for made-in-Vietnam shoes and lower interest from European customers.
Thus, companies with ties to Vietnamese manufacturers, importers and retailers in the EU have been against the tax.
“With the EU facing inflation and an economic slowdown, anti-dumping taxes on Vietnamese leather shoes will create difficulties for people with low incomes in the EU. Most of them use goods imported from Asia ,” said a representative for an European importer.
In addition, the EC’s decision to impose anti-dumping duties on children’s leather shoes is unreasonable as it would likely raise retail prices, and cause inconvenience to consumers as well as their children in the EU.
VNA
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