Mexico City. Given the impact on footwear manufacturers caused by the importation of shoes from China, the Ministry of Economy (SE) imposed provisional compensatory duties of up to 17.99 percent, a provisional measure that was considered by the Mexican industry as “historic.”
Mauricio Battaglia Velázquez, president of the National Chamber of the Footwear Industry (Canaical) commented at a conference that the sector is not opposed to imports, but is “against the fact that the playing field is not even.”
According to data from the organization, between January and August of this year, more than 50 million 685 thousand pairs of shoes have been imported from the Asian giant, a figure that is 16.74 percent higher compared to the 43 million 416 thousand reported in the same period of the year. last year.
Battaglia Velázquez said that on September 30, the SE published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) the preliminary resolution of the antidumping investigation that began on April 26 on the introduction of this type of products into the country from China, although this is not the country of origin.
He commented that after an in-depth analysis by the International Trade Practices Unit of the SE, it was determined that the entry of these goods into the country has caused damage to the national industry, such that conditions of unfair competition exist.
“We celebrate the resolution that determines preliminary quotas on imports of Chinese footwear. This resolution is historic, because let us remember that the last measure for footwear in Mexico took place 30 years ago,” said the also leader of the Chamber of the Footwear Industry of the State of Guanajuato (CICEG).
Battaglia Velázquez commented that the objective of this provisional measure – it will only be valid until January 2025 – since the investigation continues and is expected to conclude in March of next year, it seeks to recover lost jobs.
“With the imposition of these provisional compensatory quotas, we hope that little by little the damage to the national industry will be reversed, that footwear manufacturers will be able to recover our competitiveness in the domestic market and thereby increase employment sources again,” he said. .
The products that will have to pay compensatory duties at the country’s customs, ranging from 12.13 percent to 17.99 percent, are synthetic boots; basic, formal and dress sandals; corn tennis shoes with textile, as well as with a synthetic upper; and casual footwear with textile. It should be noted that this is added to the 35 percent tariff that already existed.
Although 24 Chinese producer-exporters were presented, the SE carried out a methodology according to the export volume for each classification of footwear, in such a way that the main ones sanctioned turned out to be Xinlong Footwear; Bidibi Shoes; Apache Footwear; and Yaxin Shoes Factory.
According to the organization, the footwear industry has lost 7,480 jobs from June 2023 to the same period this year and observes a reduction in production of 12.56 percent.
The research also showed that Chinese companies have profit margins of up to 82 percent.
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