The European Union has increased anti-dumping investigations into imported Asian footwear, after seeing imports soar and market prices plummet.
Last week the European Commission (EC) announced it was scrutinising imports of steel-capped safety shoes from India and China, to determine whether increased volume and low prices were damaging Europe's industry.
A second investigation has now been opened into allegations by European manufacturers that leather shoes arriving from China and Vietnam are being dumped for less than their production costs.
Last month the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry filed a petition with the EC calling for anti-dumping action citing a flood of cheap footwear, alleging that the volume of Chinese shoe imports had increased 700 per cent, while the price of the goods had decreased on average 28 per cent during the first four months of this year.
It is unlikely that additional investigations will be opened into more categories of footwear in the near future, said an assistant chief economist at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
Daniel Poon said that the two investigations now under way covered most of what the European manufacturers had requested.
