The decision to impose anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese leather-upper shoes exported to the European Union (EU) market is unfair and inconsonant with reality, said a spokesman of Vietnamese Foreign Ministry on Friday.

It is regrettable that the European Commission has decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on leather-upper shoes imported from Vietnam, spokesman Le Dung said while answering questions on Vietnam's reaction to the issue.

Vietnamese footwear enterprises do not sell their products to the EU at dumping prices, he said, noting that they are operating under the rules of market economy, free trade and fair competition.

The Vietnamese government does not intervene in or subsidize their business. Competitive advantages of local footwear makers are attributed to low labor cost and modern technology, Dung said.

The decision will negatively affect Vietnamese workers as well as EU consumers, EU footwear retail industry and many EU footwear investors who are doing business in Vietnam, he said.

To protect the interests of Vietnamese workers and enterprises as well as EU investors, Vietnam will continue to work with the European Commission to find an acceptable solution favorable to interests of the both sides, he said.

The European Commission on Thursday formally adopted provisional anti-dumping duties of up to 16.8 percent on Vietnamese leather-upper shoes, and 19.4 percent on Chinese ones. The anti-dumping duties are to be phased in over six months, beginning at 4.2 percent on Vietnamese products and 4.8 percent on Chinese ones on April 7. Children shoes and high-tech sport shoes will be exempt from the anti-dumping duties.

Vietnam exported 265 million pairs of shoes of different kinds to the EU last year. Some 80 millions pairs will be affected by new tariffs, according to a recent press release by the EC to Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua