No evidence on shoe dumping: official

A senior commerce ministry official said Thursday the European Commission lacks credible evidence for its proposed anti-dumping legislation against leather shoe imports from China, state media reported. Wang Shichun, director of the bureau of fair trade for imports and exports under the Ministry of Commerce, described a recommendation from EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to phase in temporary anti-dumping duties of up to 19.4% on Chinese shoe firms by October as a "big step backwards". He said footwear imported from China had resulted in little harm to the European industry and said proposed duties would hurt importers, retailers and customers in Europe. The EU started monitoring China’s shoe exports after a complaint in February last year. A dumping investigation was officially launched last July.