Peter Mandelson, the European Union’s trade commissioner, on Thursday defended a decision to introduce anti-dumping duties of almost 20 per cent on leather shoes from China and Vietnam.

“There is more than an adequate margin of comfort for importers and retailers to adjust to these duties without passing them on to consumers,” Mr Mandelson said, adding that the evidence over the past five years showed that EU retailers had not transferred the benefits of lower Asian production costs to the high street.