Brazil imposes tariffs on Chinese footwear

Brazil decided on July 4 to impose tariffs of up to 182 percent on footwear parts and accessories from China, in another bid to restrict imports of Chinese footwear after an anti-dumping duty two years ago.

In March 2010, Brazil imposed a five-year anti-dumping duty of $13.85 on each pair of shoes from China. It also launched an investigation into what it called "anti-dumping circumvention" in October 2011 following a request from the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association.

The first four months saw Brazil import 15 million pairs of shoes, worth $146 million, an increase of 15 percent from the previous year, according to data from the association. China was Brazil's biggest shoe importing source in the same period, it supplied 7 million pairs of shoes worth $29 million.

In February, Brazil introduced an anti-dumping duty on tablecloths made in Paraguay and Uruguay but using raw materials from China. Paraguay and Uruguay are members of the Common Market of the South and their exports to Brazil have no duties.