Polish import tariffs on Chinese footwear challenged
Poland’s highest court of administration has ordered the country’s Ministry of Industry to review its decision to impose additional import duties on footwear from mainland China.
The order was prompted by a joint action by the Polish licensees of Adidas, Reebok and Nike, who consider the levies unfair and whose previous representations to the Industry Ministry were turned down.
The move is bound to bring the licensees into conflict with the Polish Chamber of Shoe and Leather Industry (PCSLI), which successfully lobbied for the levies to be introduced in 1999 in the face of a rising tide of Chinese footwear imports.
During the period 1994 – 1997, imports from China increased by 233%, the typical retail cost of a Chinese pair being 20% of that of its Polish equivalent. To counter the situation, additional import duties of €0.9 to €4 ($.35 to $4) per pair were introduced – not just to inexpensive items but also the branded imports, and it is this ‘across the board’ approach which is at the centre of the licensees’ appeal.
Before the court Prof. Marel Wierzbowski, representing Adidas Poland stated that the restrictions should have been confined to the cheaper end of the market, since there are no Polish-produced equivalents to the branded imports. For its part, the Polish Ministry of Industry maintains that it would be impractical to differentiate between different kinds of footwear on the basis of retail price, hence the matter being brought before court of administration.
However, there is every chance that the argument will be rendered redundant as a new law is now debated in Polish parliament that will give the Ministry of Industry much greater powers of protection against imports. As the head of the Protective Procedures department of the ministry also wryly commented, if the issue is left to drag on there will be nothing left to argue about, because there will simply be no domestic shoe production sector left to protect.
