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LONDON—European Union member states voted on Thursday to reject a proposal to extend anti-dumping tariffs levied against China and Vietnam. The final, legally binding vote of the Member States Council is scheduled for December 22. The tariffs, which were first enacted in 2006 and original proposed to run for two years, had been extended 15 months in 2008. Thursday’s vote rejected a proposal to grant an additional 15-month extension.

China’s Ministry of Commerce hailed the decision and said in an online statement: “The fact that a majority of member states demanded to end the duties demonstrated the will of insightful EU people to support free trade and oppose protectionism.” 

The British Retail Consortium’s Brussels director, Alisdair Gray, added, “This is a major victory for customers, retailers and free trade. The EU’s argument that these shoes were being sold into Europe at below cost was always bogus cover for protecting inefficient producers at the expense of hard-pressed customers.” 

The tariffs—16.5 percent on Chinese imports and 10 percent on Vietnamese imports—have been roundly condemned by shoe retailers for driving up prices during a worldwide recession. However, Emma Ormond, an international trade consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, warned, “There is plenty of time for the commission and those member states most strongly in favor of the measures—Italy and Poland—to put pressure on some of the smaller member states that voted against or abstained.” Fifteen out of the 27 European Union member states voted against a European Commission proposal to extend the duties by 15 months; two abstained.

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