E-commerce excluded, footwear imports from Asia experience 38% growth in November

Imports of footwear from Vietnam, Indonesia, and China saw a 38% increase in revenue and a 10% growth in volume in November compared to the same month last year, as reported by the Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries (Abicalçados). Year-to-date, imports from these Asian countries, accounting for 80% of the total, rose by 26.6% in revenue ($327 million) and 11.5% in volume (22 million pairs).

These figures exclude imports made through the Remessa Conforme program, which exempts international purchases made on e-commerce platforms up to $50 from taxes—a category that includes the vast majority of domestically produced footwear—without proper oversight. Haroldo Ferreira, the executive president of Abicalçados, emphasizes that these unaccounted imports would significantly inflate an alarming statistic.

The impact is beginning to be felt in employment, with the potential for the closure of 30,000 jobs. From January to October, the national footwear sector lost nearly 2,000 jobs, resulting in a workforce 6.6% smaller than the previous year. Up to October, production declined by 1.6% compared to the same period in 2022.

See below Brazilian footwear (hs 64) imports measured in TEUs registered between Jan 2019 and Oct 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Brazilian Footwear Imports | Jan 2019 – Oct 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Abicalçados calls out dumping

Ferreira calls attention to how job losses will likely intensify if immediate action is not taken, especially regarding the exemption for foreign platforms, which would have the most immediate impact on industrial activity. “We are not opposed to imports; we are opposed to unfair competition,” he says. “Asian footwear, as a rule, enters Brazil through illegal practices such as dumping—when a company sells goods in the international market at a lower price.”

Source: Estadão

Click here to view the original text: https://www.estadao.com.br/economia/coluna-do-broad/sem-contar-e-commerce-importacao-de-calcados-da-asia-cresce-38-em-novembro/

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