Sao Paulo, Brazil, 18 Jan – the Brazilian government plans to investigate if companies from China are breaking antidumping measures adopted in 2010 to protect the footwear sector, the Brazilian minister for Development, Industry and Foreign Trade said in Sao Paulo.

Visiting the 38th edition of footwear and leather fair, Couromoda – Feira Internacional de Calçados, Artigos Desportivos e Artefactos de Couro, Fernando Pimentel said that the investigation to find out if triangulation had occurred would begin in the next few days and added that, “if it is proven, the government will take measures.”

In March, 2010, the Brazilian government applied a tax of US$13.85 on each pair of shoes produced in China and, according to the minister, there are suspicions that products manufactured in China are registered in other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia in order to avoid the Brazilian tax.

The Brazilian press also said that the Brazilian government wanted to negotiate compensation with China because of what it calls, the “artificially undervalued exchange rate of the Asian country,” and contacts are due to begin between the presidents of Brazil, Dilma Roussef, and of China, Hu Jintao.

The alternatives under discussion are various, covering sector export agreements and opening up the Chinese market to Brazilian meat, fruit and industrial products. (macauhub)