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According to the website of trade magazine BikeEurope, the European Commission has announced a definitive anti-dumping duty against imports of bicycles and other cycles (including delivery tricycles) originating in the People’s Republic of China.
The definitive duty is 30.6% and pertains to non-motorized bicycles. The investigation covered the period 1 September 1997 to 31 August 1998. The complaint was lodged by the Paris-based European Bicycle Manufacturers’ Association (EBMA) in June 1998.
The Commissions report says: "Analysis of the likelihood of the recurrence of injurious dumping indicates that injurious dumping would recur in the absence of anti-dumping measures against bicycles originating in China."
According to the Commission, the removal of the anti-dumping duties against Chinese bicycles would lead to: a further restoring of the Community industry and company closures; reduced employment in the Community industry; losses in sales volume entailing a reduction in production volume and thus inevitably increases in fixed costs per unit and factory break-even levels; and losses of economies of scale leading to higher variable unit costs.
One of the main topics discussed was that the Chinese bicycle industry is currently utilizing only an estimated 50% of its production capability and, if given the opportunity, could rapidly penetrate the Community market in such a manner as to threaten the Community industry. The USA was named as a prime example of this, said www.bike-eu.com.
"Without anti-dumping duties and given the spare production capacity, volumes of low-priced dumped imports originating in China could be expected in the near future to reach a level comparable to that in 1991 (around 2.5 million units). This would give Chinese exporting producers a share of around 15% of the Community market."
The new duty will enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities and is directly applicable in all member states.
