The European Union's executive announced Thursday it was launching an anti-dumping investigation into surging imports of Chinese and Indian work shoes, in the latest trade strain between Brussels and Beijing.
The probe, while not directly linked to recent spat over booming imports of cheap textiles from China, is also aimed at protecting European clothes producers by invoking World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
"The investigation will determine whether the product concerned originating in the People's Republic of China and India is being dumped and whether this dumping has caused injury," said a notice in the EU's official journal.
EU commission spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said that the probe, which follows a complaint from European shoe manufactures lodged on May 17, would be carried out in line with WTO guidelines.
This type of investigation, which is supposed to reveal whether or not Chinese-made work shoes are sold at a loss or benefit from hidden subsidies, usually lasts "about nine months" in a first stage and 15 months overall.
Veron-Reville said that the investigation could lead to anti-dumping measures if deemed necessary although a negotiated deal was preferable.
"The opening up of this investigation is of course without prejudice to the outcome. But should the investigation show that there are unfair commercial practices being used to get market share then we could apply anti-dumping measures," she said.
Between 2002 and 2004, China's share of the EU market for the so-called safety shoes has surged by 200 percent while India's market share has jumped 50 percent over the same period, according to EU figures. At the same time prices have fallen by 30 percent.
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