Never have internal hub gears been so much in the news! Around about the same time Lenark bought Sturmey, SRAM launched an anti-dumping complaint claiming Shimano was guilty of under-cutting its rivals in the European hub gear market. Shimano today issued a statement...

Getting to the hub of the matter

Frank Peiffer, the marketing director of Shimano Europa, says he wants to clarify the role of SRAM in the current anti-dumping proceeding on imported internal hub gears.

Heres his open letter to the trade:

Shimano has been informed from various sources that misleading and inaccurate information is circulating in the market place regarding the role of SRAM in the recent anti-dumping proceeding. This "rumoor" says that SRAM has no active role in this anti-dumping proceeding and that it is all the action of the EU Commission. This is simply not true, and we would like to correct the wrong impression that is being created by this "rumour."

1. If SRAM withdraws its complaint (which was lodged on 6, July, 2000 with the Commission), the Commission will terminate the anti-dumping proceeding, unless such termination would be determined to be against the interests of the Community. In the past 30 years, the Commission never considered that it would be in the Community’s interest to continue an anti-dumping proceeding after the withdrawal of a complaint. Therefore, the withdrawal has always resulted in the termination of the proceeding.

2. Furthermore, the Commission would not have initiated the anti-dumping

investigation without the complaint lodged by SRAM. Although the Commission has the ability to initiate anti-dumping proceedings of its own accord, the Commission has rarely done so and only under exceptional circumstances.

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