News
Duty on Chinese bike parts may be scrapped by EU
Carlton Reid Nov 28 2006, 6:00pm
The Official Journal of the European Commission said the punitive duty on Chinese bike parts could be lifted within the next 15 months.
The European Commission said European bike importers would be unlikely to try to avoid the levy on Chinese bicycles by buying parts from China and assembling bikes in the region. The commission began a review of a 1997 EU decision to include bike parts in the scope of a 1993 duty on bicycles.
The Official Journal said vidence indicates "that if the extension of the measures on imports of bicycles to imports of certain bicycle parts was removed, there would be no continuation or recurrence of circumvention practices,."
The EU has 15 months to complete its probe.
In July 2005, the EU raised the anti-dumping levy to 48.5 percent from 30.6 percent and fixed the new rate for five years to help European producers regain market share. EU bike makers' share of their home market fell to 51 percent in 2004 from 67 percent four years earlier, according to the EU.
Since 1997, the commission has exempted some EU-based companies from the tariff on bike parts. The commission said yesterday it has continued to receive requests for an exemption from the extended measures.
Source: Bloomberg News
