The World Trade Organisation (WTO) will rule on a dispute between China and the European Union over shoe imports which has pitched European producers against consumer groups and companies with operations in China, Reuters reported. A meeting of the WTO's dispute settlement body decided on Tuesday to set up a panel to rule on the case after consultations between China and the European Union failed to resolve the matter. The dispute brought by China -- its second at the world trade body against the European Union -- challenges anti-dumping duties imposed by the EU of up to 16.5 percent on shoe imports from China and 10 percent on those from Vietnam. A Chinese official told the meeting the EU duties had hurt the jobs and livelihoods of 150,000 people working in leather footwear. "China wishes to further emphasise that the EU anti-dumping measures have a very serious impairment on the interests of Chinese industries," he said. -- SPA
