China'S Shoes Anti-Dumping Lawsuit Will Be Fought For Another Year

On the 28th, news came from the lawyers hired by Chinese shoe enterprises who appealed against EU anti-dumping, including Aokang, that the European Court of First Instance had completed the first round of defense of anti-dumping proceedings filed by Chinese shoe enterprises. Last week, Aokang Group, Wenzhou Tama, Guangdong Golden Shoes and Xinsheng Hong Kong Dollar, and other Chinese shoe companies in appeal, have all received the first round of written replies from the EU Council of Ministers and other relevant stakeholders forwarded by the European Court of First Instance. According to the EU's anti-dumping judicial procedure, after the first round of defense proceedings, the second round of defense proceedings will be launched, which will last for one year. In the second round of defense, China will mainly focus on the defense points raised by the respondent in the first round of defense, such as technical issues of dumping calculation, how to apply the sampling investigation procedure and other legal issues. "In the first round of defense, the European Council made defense responses to the lawsuits filed by Chinese shoe enterprises such as Aokang one by one. However, in the first round of defense, the European Commission did not participate in the judicial proceedings as an interested party, and only reserved the right to oral defense." Pu Lingchen, legal adviser and attorney of the China Shoes Enterprises Cooperation Organization Against Foreign Trade Barriers, said, In April this year, the European Commission, as a stakeholder, submitted a request for intervention to the Court of First Instance of the European Union, expressing support for the European Council. In July, the European Footwear Association and 17 Italian shoemaking enterprises also made a request and intervened in the judicial process. On October 7, 2006, the EU imposed a two year anti-dumping duty of 16.5% on leather shoes originating in China. On October 23 of the same year, Aokang took the lead in deciding to hire lawyers to file a lawsuit with the European Court of First Instance. On December 29, Aokang Group, Wenzhou Taima, Guangdong Golden Shoes, Guangdong Xinsheng Hong Kong Dollar and other shoe enterprises submitted their litigation materials to the European Court of First Instance. After the court of first instance of the European Union accepted the claim of the Chinese shoemaking enterprise, two rounds of defense will be held by both parties, with a total time of about two years. It is understood that the EU anti-dumping measures have had a great impact on the export of China's leather shoes industry since they were implemented one year ago. According to the data provided by the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Light Industries and Handicrafts, in the first half of this year, the import volume of EU leather shoes anti-dumping products fell by 7.76% compared with the same period. Among them, imports from China and Vietnam, the countries where anti-dumping duties were imposed, declined significantly. For example, the number of imports from China was 86 million pairs, and the import amount was 943 million US dollars, down 26.37% and 21.36% respectively from the same period last year.