There are some new indications that the European Commission may make its final decision on anti-dumping duties for leather shoes from China and Vietnam as early as tomorrow, after consulting the member governments on the issue. Several governments, including the Austrian, Danish and German ones, are firmly against the duties. A thin majority seems to be in favor of exempting athletic footwear, but Italy and other countries want to whittle down the definition of this category. We plan to send out an e-mail blast to our e-mail subscribers if something happens tomorrow. Otherwise the decision will probably be made on March 21. Horst Widmann, chairman of the European Sporting Goods Industry Association (FESI), says any duties will only create losers: the brands themselves, which will have to absorb the charges for the collections being delivered for Fall/Winter 2006/07, the European retailers and consumers who will have to pay more from next year onwards, and the workers in China and Vietnam.