Chinese shoemakers fight EU shoe duty

Four Chinese shoemakers on Wednesday said they would sue the European Union over a 16.5% anti-dumping duty imposed on their products in October, the Financial Times reported. The companies will tell the European Court of First Instance – Europe's second-highest court – that the EU's regulator failed to examine their prices properly. James Searles, of Steptoe and Johnson in Brussels, the lawyer representing the companies, said the Commission used sampling rather than checking every company to make its decision. "The dumping regulation requires every claimant to be reviewed individually," he said. Two of the complaining Chinese companies were not considered in the sample, Searles said. The case is led by Aokang Group, the biggest producer in China.