EU imposes tariffs on Chinese shoes after bitter debate

The EU's shoe-producing countries have won a battle for a two-year anti-dumping regime against imports of Asian footwear starting from Saturday (7 October), with European retailers and consumer groups strongly criticising the move.

After weeks of debate on the controversial issue, the European Commission got the go-ahead from member states on Wednesday to impose tariffs of 16.5 percent on leather-shoe imports from China and 10 percent on Vietnamese imports.

Under EU rules, the com...