The anti-dumping lawsuit on Vietnamese leather shoes has made exports to EU drop significantly. The latest statistics released by the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) showed that exports to the EU accounted for just 50% of Vietnam’s total footwear exports, while the figure was 70% previously.
However, the EU remains the biggest export market for Vietnamese shoemakers. Exports to the EU remain big as Vietnam-made shoes can enjoy preferences under the framework of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) when they are exported to the EU.

According to Lefaso, under the impact of the anti-dumping lawsuits raised against Vietnam-made leather capped shoes, Vietnamese footwear makers have been facing big difficulties since the beginning of 2006 as they cannot get orders.

Before the anti-dumping tax rates on Vietnam-made shoes were announced, European partners delayed placing orders for fear of high tax rates which would make Vietnam-made shoes unmarketable in the EU market. However, the situation has improved a little since the EU announced the anti-dumping tax rate of 10% on Vietnam-made shoes and 16.5% on China-made footwares.

Meanwhile, exports to the US increased sharply last year with turnover at $802mil, up by 30% over 2005. The export products were mainly made by 100% foreign owned, joint ventures and several big producers, who did the outwork for big groups, namely Nike, Adidas, Reebok. The products are sold through main distribution channels.

In 2006, Vietnam exported $3.59bil worth of footwear, an increase of 20% over 2005 with total output of 579 milllion pairs of shoes. Leather bags export turnover also reached US$ 503 million, an increase of 7% over last year.

Sports shoes proved to be the biggest export item of Vietnam with 381mil pairs exported last year worth $2.63bil, accounting for 73% of the total footwear export turnover.

Vietnam now has 750 footwear production lines which allow it to make 715mil pairs a year.

Statistics show that by the end of 2006, of every 10 pairs of shoes purchased, two pairs were sourced from Vietnam. The country has become a big shoe producer in the world, ranking third in Asia, after China and India.