The European Union (EU) and China are on the verge of a "shoe war". China has threatened to file a suit with the World Trade Organization, if the EU tries to impose restrictions on the export of China-made shoes to European countries. Thus, the talks on Chinese shoe exports between a Chinese delegation and top management of the European Commission, which have been going on in Brussels since last Monday, have ended in failure.
China has rejected any attempt to impose quotas on the export of its shoes to the EU. In the meantime, the European shoe manufacturing industry is rapidly going downhill due to the expanding import of cheap and good-quality shoes from China. Over the period from 1998 – the date when quotas for Chinese shoe imports were lifted – to 2004, shoe production in EU countries went down from over 1 billion pairs to 700 million.
China has rejected any attempt to impose quotas on the export of its shoes to the EU. In the meantime, the European shoe manufacturing industry is rapidly going downhill due to the expanding import of cheap and good-quality shoes from China. Over the period from 1998 – the date when quotas for Chinese shoe imports were lifted – to 2004, shoe production in EU countries went down from over 1 billion pairs to 700 million.
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