European retailers are uniting to face down the threat of new EU taxes being imposed on children’s shoes. The Children’s Shoe Coalition, includes IBEC’s Retail Ireland and has members from Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France and the Netherlands.
In April 2006, the EU Commission added a hefty tarrif to the cost of leather shoes imported from China and Vietnam.
The coalition will battle to stop the active campaign by a number of EU countries, including Italy and Portugal, to extend the 20% EU import duties introduced in April on adult shoes, to children’s shoes.
In July the EU COmmission will decide whether to extend that burden on consumers for five years and whether to include children’s shoes.
“All duties will do is wipe out any profit made on leather shoe sales, forcing retailers to raise prices, leading to reduced sales and ultimately job losses,” Torlach Denihan, Director of Retail Ireland, said.
