EU puts spoke in wheel of cheap Chinese e-bike imports (updated)

Giant Manufacturing Co

03/05/2018 11:57

(Adds details of market, EBMA reaction)
    By Philip Blenkinsop
    BRUSSELS, May 3 (Reuters) - Chinese electric bicycles will
have to be registered in the EU in a move by the bloc to curb
cheap imports which European manufacturers say are flooding the
market.
    The European Commission had sufficient evidence to show that
Chinese manufacturers were dumping e-bikes in Europe and were
receiving subsidies, the European Union's official journal said.
    In the latest in a series of EU studies into and measures
against Chinese exports ranging from solar panels to steel, the
Commission has launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
investigations into e-bikes.
    Taiwan's Giant  9921.TW , one of the world's largest bicycle
makers with factories in China as well as the Netherlands, had
denied that imports rose substantially, the EU journal said. 
    The registration system for e-bikes would allow eventual
duties to be backdated to early in May, it added.
    The European Bicycle Manufacturers Association (EBMA), whose
complaints prompted the investigations, says Chinese companies
are selling pedal-assist e-bikes in the EU at prices which are
sometimes below the cost of production, aided by subsidies.
    EBMA had called for registration, arguing that a surge of
low-priced imports could result in a stockpile ahead of the main
2018 selling season, undermining the effect of potential duties.
    The Commission has until July 20 to determine whether to
impose provisional anti-dumping duties. If imposed, they would
also apply to the period during which imports are registered.
The EU official journal said that this would start on Friday.
    Exports from Chinese producers, which include
Battle-Fushida, Aima and Tianjin Golden Wheel, rose by 82
percent from November 2017 to February 2018, compared with the
same period a year earlier, the journal said. Prices were 8
percent lower.
    EBMA said it welcomed what it said was vital first step to
protect the EU industry, coming in time to prevent a surge of 
e-bike imports through the main summer sales months. 

 (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop
Editing by Alexander Smith)
 ((philip.blenkinsop@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6838; Reuters
Messaging: philip.blenkinsop.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))