AS the European Union's antidumping tariffs against China-made leather shoes took effect on Friday, Chinese shoemakers say they suffering a double hit.

Not only have orders decreased but distributors want prices dropped as some are now only ready to pay 21 yuan (US$2.50) for a pair of leather shoes.

The European Commission, the EU executive arm, will phase in, over the next six months, tariffs that will rise from 4 percent to 19.4 percent.

"If the EU wants to shift the cost of the tariffs to Chinese shoe exporters, it will inevitably hurt Chinese shoemakers by slashing the manufacturers' meager profits," said Hong Guangsheng, manager of Guangzhou Yunfang Shoe Trade Co Ltd.

The company, based in south China's Guangdong Province, exported 500,000 pairs of shoes to Italy last year. However, its distributors in Italy cut April's new orders by half and have demanded the company reduce prices from 25 yuan to 21 yuan a pair.

"The EU's tariffs will compel scores of small- and medium-sized shoemakers to close down, threatening thousands of jobs," said Huang Rongmao, deputy secretary-general of the Shoe Industry Council in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, known as a major shoe producing base with an annual output of 600 million pairs of shoes.

The shoe industry in Huizhou includes some 3,000 factories employing as many as 150,000 workers. Eighty-six percent of the factories have fewer than 1,000 workers.

"We make 1 to 2 yuan from a pair of shoe. If the EU maintains the tariffs, my company will give up the export market," said Xie Chang, an offcial at Yongqing Shoe Manufacturing Co.

He said the EU's sanctions come as the costs of labor and raw materials are rising in China, making small shoe manufacturers more vulnerable to turbulence in the international market.

Xie said last year workers at his company earned 800 yuan a month and this year they make 1,200 yuan a month.

More than 150 of China's shoemakers have formed an alliance to defend themselves against the EU's antidumping duties and have jointly raised three million yuan for their appeal.

Wu Zhenchang, a member of the alliance, said the World Trade Organization antidumping protocol requires any antidumping prosecution to prove 15 injury indicators. However, the EU sanctions are based on only six indicators and there is no solid evidence.

Zhu Feng, secretary-general of the Wenzhou Shoe Industry Council in east China's Zhejiang Province, expressed the belief that the EU's sanctions on leather shoes are similar to the Sino-US textile trade rift of last year and could result in a sharp decline of China-made leather shoes to EU markets.