The EU yesterday adopted, by the narrowest of majorities, new anti-dumping measures to tackle imports of leather shoes from China and Vietnam, a diplomatic source said.
The vote to adopt the measures for two years resulted in a 13 to 12 majority in the 25-nation EU, the source said.
The vote will allow the new anti-dumping measures to come into force on Saturday, with import duties of 16.5 percent on Chinese shoes with leather uppers, in place of the current temporary duty of 19.4 percent.
The tariff on the same kind of shoes from Vietnam will be 10 percent in place of the current temporary duty of 16.8 percent.
The European Commission had proposed a five-year penalty, but the compromise on the measure's duration, proposed by France, allowed the vote to go through. In the vote, taken during a meeting in Brussels of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the 25 EU nations, nine countries voted in favor of the two-year measures and 12 maintained their opposition.
The remaining four countries abstained but their votes counted for the proposal.
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