Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-14-Speech-2-187"
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"en.20060314.24.2-187"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ever since the quota system was abolished last year, imports from China have, as has been mentioned, spectacularly increased by around 500%.
That has serious consequences for the competitiveness of the European footwear sector which, faced with this flood of very low-priced imports, is seeing a number of tragic bankruptcies, to say nothing of the job losses that go with them.
Furthermore, our traditional suppliers in the form of candidate countries and countries in the Euromed area have been ousted from the Community market. The Commission remains silent on this matter and does not seem keen to assess the impact of the damage done by this liberalisation.
Following the complaint lodged by the operators in this sector, you opened an antidumping inquiry. The alarming results of that inquiry bring to light unquestionable evidence of state intervention and of social dumping practices, which cause material loss to our industries.
In order to combat this distortion of the fundamental rules of international trade, you are proposing some measures to us today. I am worried, however, about the gradual entry into force of these antidumping laws over a five-month period, a precedent that I feel is inappropriate and legally questionable and will not be without pernicious effects. These laws should make it possible to eliminate either dumping or the losses it causes. In fact, the proposed progressive rates do not fulfil either of those two alternative conditions. What is more, the exclusion of children’s shoes seems to me to be unjustified and incomprehensible. Your proposals could very quickly prove to be insufficient faced with the extent of the losses suffered by our businesses.
Other initiatives could be taken to counter these unfair commercial practices. For example, it would be possible to open an inquiry in the framework of the provisional safeguard measures applicable to Chinese imports, measures that have the advantage of being simple and effective.
If the Member States asked you to take such initiatives, would the Commission envisage doing so? Might consideration be given, Commissioner, to assessing whether China is actually implementing WTO trade rules and complying with fair and equitable commercial practices, unlike the way in which it is patently violating WTO law? Your proposals are neither robust nor enlightened. After textiles last year and footwear now, which other sectors will have to be subjected to these unfair practices in the future?"@en1
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