Vietnam rejects EU’s extended punitive taxes on shoes |
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Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga voiced the protest after ambassadors of the EU member countries voted for the prolongation of the punitive taxes at a meeting on December 17. “The decision goes counter to the developments of friendly and co-operative relations between Vietnam and the European Union, and deeply disappoints the Government, businesses and workers of Vietnam,” she said. The spokeswoman affirmed Vietnam’s enterprises have not dumped leather-capped shoes on the European market. These companies have not intended and not been able to pursue this policy for such a long time because they are small and medium-sized businesses and have mainly done outwork for their foreign partners, including those from the EU. As the world economy is yet to fully recover, the EU’s extension of the penalty taxes will worsen difficulties facing Vietnamese businesses and workers, as well as continue to made the adverse impacts on European footwear producers operating in Vietnam and a large number of European consumers, she elaborated. The spokeswoman said Vietnam once more proposes that EU member nations and the European Commission consider the case objectively and fairly for the legitimate interests of Vietnamese businesses and workers, as well as of European companies and consumers and put an end to anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese leather-capped shoes. (VNA) |
Showing posts with label footwear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label footwear. Show all posts
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Vietnam rejects EU’s extended punitive taxes on shoes
Vietnam has rejected the European Union’s extension of anti-dumping duties on its leather-capped shoes for 15 months, saying it is an unfair decision and does not reflect the reality of footwear production in the country. 
Saturday, June 14, 2008
EU boots Vietnamese out of footwear export scheme
Despite protests from Nike and Adidas, Vietnam shoemakers will have to pay higher duties on footwear exported to Europe.
The European Union is removing Vietnam’s footwear industry from a preferential tariff program for exports to the bloc after deciding the sector had become one of the most competitive in the world, officials said Friday.
European Commission Ambassador Sean Doyle told a news conference in Hanoi that graduating out of the program that helps poor countries export their products “confirmed Vietnam’s success in diversifying its exports to the EU and reducing over-dependency on single commodities.”
He said the EU was willing to offer Vietnam a long-term tariff regime for all sectors, including footwear, in talks on a free trade agreement between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Vietnam is one of 10 members.
Leading sports shoe makers Adidas and Nike, which both have factories in Vietnam, have opposed the EU move, saying it would damage the industry on top of anti-dumping duties imposed on leather shoes from Vietnam and China in 2006.
Footwear is Vietnam’s third-biggest export by value, after crude oil and garments.
With its economy still considered “developing,” the government is also struggling to deal with a large trade imbalance and inflation running at 25 percent, the third highest inflation rate in Asia.
Doyle said the EU decision, which had been expected for months, was not intended to penalize Vietnam, where the government’s market reforms focused on opening up trade and joining the World Trade Organization last year.
“We would be in trouble with the WTO and some of Vietnam’s biggest competitors if we tried to extend the present arrangement,” the envoy said.
A Vietnam trade official said the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), as it is known, would be changed to Most Favored Nations status, meaning the tariffs would be raised to about 5 to 10 percent from 3 to 5 percent.
Other exports that benefit from GSP were not affected.
“It is very difficult to change the EU’s ruling on the treatment and some footwear businesses will have a hard time ahead,” said Dinh Van Hoi, deputy director of the Europe Department of the Trade and Industry Ministry.
The footwear industry accounts for 1.25 percent of employment in Vietnam, representing about half a million workers, 80 percent of them women.
Ninety percent of production is exported, with the EU the largest market – it earned 1.7 billion euros in export turnover in 2007.
In April Adidas and Nike urged the EU not to remove Vietnam’s shoe industry from the preferential tariffs program that helps developing countries export to the bloc.
“Removing GSP preferences for footwear would deal a blow to one of Vietnam’s key industries and undermine the country’s position as a competitive source of supply,” said Horst Widmann, president of the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), in a statement.
“The EU is punishing Vietnam twice,” Widmann said, saying the change in status on top of the anti-dumping duties was a blow for Vietnamese footwear sector.
“This is absurd and clearly irresponsible given the country’s vulnerable position,” Widmann said.
The Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association said it forecast leather and footwear exports to all countries would rise nearly 13 percent this year from last year to about $4.5 billion.
Exports of the products in the first five months rose 13.4 percent from a year ago to $1.75 billion, accounting for 7.4 percent of Vietnam’s total exports.
The Southeast Asian country’s major export markets include the US, the EU, Japan, Canada and Australia.
The EU is Vietnam’s second largest export destination, absorbing 19
The European Union is removing Vietnam’s footwear industry from a preferential tariff program for exports to the bloc after deciding the sector had become one of the most competitive in the world, officials said Friday.
European Commission Ambassador Sean Doyle told a news conference in Hanoi that graduating out of the program that helps poor countries export their products “confirmed Vietnam’s success in diversifying its exports to the EU and reducing over-dependency on single commodities.”
He said the EU was willing to offer Vietnam a long-term tariff regime for all sectors, including footwear, in talks on a free trade agreement between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Vietnam is one of 10 members.
Leading sports shoe makers Adidas and Nike, which both have factories in Vietnam, have opposed the EU move, saying it would damage the industry on top of anti-dumping duties imposed on leather shoes from Vietnam and China in 2006.
Footwear is Vietnam’s third-biggest export by value, after crude oil and garments.
With its economy still considered “developing,” the government is also struggling to deal with a large trade imbalance and inflation running at 25 percent, the third highest inflation rate in Asia.
Doyle said the EU decision, which had been expected for months, was not intended to penalize Vietnam, where the government’s market reforms focused on opening up trade and joining the World Trade Organization last year.
“We would be in trouble with the WTO and some of Vietnam’s biggest competitors if we tried to extend the present arrangement,” the envoy said.
A Vietnam trade official said the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), as it is known, would be changed to Most Favored Nations status, meaning the tariffs would be raised to about 5 to 10 percent from 3 to 5 percent.
Other exports that benefit from GSP were not affected.
“It is very difficult to change the EU’s ruling on the treatment and some footwear businesses will have a hard time ahead,” said Dinh Van Hoi, deputy director of the Europe Department of the Trade and Industry Ministry.
The footwear industry accounts for 1.25 percent of employment in Vietnam, representing about half a million workers, 80 percent of them women.
Ninety percent of production is exported, with the EU the largest market – it earned 1.7 billion euros in export turnover in 2007.
In April Adidas and Nike urged the EU not to remove Vietnam’s shoe industry from the preferential tariffs program that helps developing countries export to the bloc.
“Removing GSP preferences for footwear would deal a blow to one of Vietnam’s key industries and undermine the country’s position as a competitive source of supply,” said Horst Widmann, president of the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), in a statement.
“The EU is punishing Vietnam twice,” Widmann said, saying the change in status on top of the anti-dumping duties was a blow for Vietnamese footwear sector.
“This is absurd and clearly irresponsible given the country’s vulnerable position,” Widmann said.
The Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association said it forecast leather and footwear exports to all countries would rise nearly 13 percent this year from last year to about $4.5 billion.
Exports of the products in the first five months rose 13.4 percent from a year ago to $1.75 billion, accounting for 7.4 percent of Vietnam’s total exports.
The Southeast Asian country’s major export markets include the US, the EU, Japan, Canada and Australia.
The EU is Vietnam’s second largest export destination, absorbing 19
Export growth to US slows
Vietnam’s export growth to the US, its largest market, eased in April as shipments of footwear and seafood struggled to expand.
US-bound sales rose 22 percent to US$3.64 billion in the four months through April from a year earlier, after increasing 23 percent in the three months through March, according to figures from the US International Trade Commission.
A slowdown in shipments to the US may make it harder for Vietnam to cut a trade deficit that has sparked concerns the country may have to devalue its currency.
Vietnamese export growth to the US has been curbed by a downturn in the American economy, Moody’s Economy.com said Thursday in a report.
“Preserving or enhancing exports to the US has to be a key part of any export promotion strategy in Vietnam,” said Ayumi Konishi, Vietnam country director at the Asian Development Bank in Hanoi.
“But for Vietnam to reduce the trade deficit, emphasis should be given to controlling imports as well as to promoting exports.’’
Vietnamese imports from the US more than doubled through April to $1.05 billion from $436 million a year earlier, as shipments of cars to Vietnam surged fivefold to $173 million.
“The higher car imports show that people in Vietnam are looking for other ways to preserve the value of their assets, instead of putting their money into the stock market,’’ said Konishi of the ADB.
Vietnamese footwear exports to the US rose 13 percent through April to $375 million, down from a 17 percent pace through March.
Shipments of shoes have been hurt by Vietnamese inflation, which reached 25.2 percent year-on-year in May.
Lack of workers
“Higher prices for shoes make our exporters less competitive,’’ said Diep Thanh Kiet, vice chairman of the Shoes and Leather Association of Ho Chi Minh City.
“The second problem is a lack of workers. After Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization, workers had more choices to move to other businesses and others have gone back to the countryside.’’
Inflation has also resulted in more worker strikes, which has further crimping footwear exports, Kiet said.
Thousands of workers at a Nike supplier in the southern province of Long An stopped working for a week in April in a wage dispute.
Seafood shipments to the US climbed 12 percent through April to $207 million, down from an 18 percent rate through March.
Vietnamese shrimp and catfish exports are subject to anti-dumping duties in the US market.
Anti-dumping duties
“The main issue with the US market is the dumping duties,’’ said Gil Watts, a HCMC-based senior consultant to the Vietnam Aquaculture Association.
“Exporters would jump back to the US market if they could, because the prices there are higher than most other markets.’’
Shipments of apparel, Vietnam’s top export to the US market, rose 28 percent through April to $1.49 billion.
Garment exports to the US were up 31 percent through March and 45 percent through February.
“Inflation and the lack of workers is not only affecting the footwear companies but also garment companies,’’ said Kiet.
Furniture shipments advanced 25 percent to $445 million, while exports of crude oil to the US almost doubled by value to $205 million from $103 million.
“The export value of crude oil increased strongly in spite of production capacity constraints, benefiting from high international prices,’’ the World Bank said in a report released this month.
Coffee exports to the US rose 4 percent through April to $130 million.
“Coffee exports from Vietnam have been intensely price-sensitive throughout the 2007-2008 season, picking up when the price is strong, tailing off when prices ease,’’ Fortis Bank SA/NV and VM Group said in a report sent this month.
A slowdown in Vietnamese coffee exports reflects “the increased financial ability of coffee traders within Vietnam to withhold coffee until they are able to sell at prices they find compelling,’’ Fortis and VM said
US-bound sales rose 22 percent to US$3.64 billion in the four months through April from a year earlier, after increasing 23 percent in the three months through March, according to figures from the US International Trade Commission.
A slowdown in shipments to the US may make it harder for Vietnam to cut a trade deficit that has sparked concerns the country may have to devalue its currency.
Vietnamese export growth to the US has been curbed by a downturn in the American economy, Moody’s Economy.com said Thursday in a report.
“Preserving or enhancing exports to the US has to be a key part of any export promotion strategy in Vietnam,” said Ayumi Konishi, Vietnam country director at the Asian Development Bank in Hanoi.
“But for Vietnam to reduce the trade deficit, emphasis should be given to controlling imports as well as to promoting exports.’’
Vietnamese imports from the US more than doubled through April to $1.05 billion from $436 million a year earlier, as shipments of cars to Vietnam surged fivefold to $173 million.
“The higher car imports show that people in Vietnam are looking for other ways to preserve the value of their assets, instead of putting their money into the stock market,’’ said Konishi of the ADB.
Vietnamese footwear exports to the US rose 13 percent through April to $375 million, down from a 17 percent pace through March.
Shipments of shoes have been hurt by Vietnamese inflation, which reached 25.2 percent year-on-year in May.
Lack of workers
“Higher prices for shoes make our exporters less competitive,’’ said Diep Thanh Kiet, vice chairman of the Shoes and Leather Association of Ho Chi Minh City.
“The second problem is a lack of workers. After Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization, workers had more choices to move to other businesses and others have gone back to the countryside.’’
Inflation has also resulted in more worker strikes, which has further crimping footwear exports, Kiet said.
Thousands of workers at a Nike supplier in the southern province of Long An stopped working for a week in April in a wage dispute.
Seafood shipments to the US climbed 12 percent through April to $207 million, down from an 18 percent rate through March.
Vietnamese shrimp and catfish exports are subject to anti-dumping duties in the US market.
Anti-dumping duties
“The main issue with the US market is the dumping duties,’’ said Gil Watts, a HCMC-based senior consultant to the Vietnam Aquaculture Association.
“Exporters would jump back to the US market if they could, because the prices there are higher than most other markets.’’
Shipments of apparel, Vietnam’s top export to the US market, rose 28 percent through April to $1.49 billion.
Garment exports to the US were up 31 percent through March and 45 percent through February.
“Inflation and the lack of workers is not only affecting the footwear companies but also garment companies,’’ said Kiet.
Furniture shipments advanced 25 percent to $445 million, while exports of crude oil to the US almost doubled by value to $205 million from $103 million.
“The export value of crude oil increased strongly in spite of production capacity constraints, benefiting from high international prices,’’ the World Bank said in a report released this month.
Coffee exports to the US rose 4 percent through April to $130 million.
“Coffee exports from Vietnam have been intensely price-sensitive throughout the 2007-2008 season, picking up when the price is strong, tailing off when prices ease,’’ Fortis Bank SA/NV and VM Group said in a report sent this month.
A slowdown in Vietnamese coffee exports reflects “the increased financial ability of coffee traders within Vietnam to withhold coffee until they are able to sell at prices they find compelling,’’ Fortis and VM said
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