In the meantime Southern European countries have proposed continuing with this tax. Therefore, the final decision on whether to impose anti-dumping taxes on Vietnamese and Chinese footwear or not will depend on Central and Eastern European countries.
As planned, the tax would have been waived in 2008, but the EU recently decided to extend it for another year.
Fashionunited.com quoted a document issued by the European Council as saying that European footwear markers would be negatively impacted in short and medium terms if the anti-dumping taxes were removed.
The Netherlands said that the measure would limit customer choice, pushing footwear prices up and making a lot of people lose jobs. However, the final decision depends on the opinions of neutral nations, such as Austria, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, France and some Eastern European countries.
The EU is considering the effect of abolishing anti-dumping taxes and will give the final decision after surveys are finished later this year.