EBMA files an anti dumping complaint on chinese e-bikes.

Woosh

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I thought we both designed, developed, built and imported electric bikes from China then sold them in the UK?
you sell to the shops and compete with the Bosches, I don't.
If ADD is less than 15%, I'll put my prices up by the same amount.
If ADD is more than 15%, I simply sell more kits and less bikes.
 

Kudoscycles

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Apr 15, 2011
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Just a suggestion but if ADT is not being applied to Taiwan then find a friendly Taiwanese business,it doesn't have to be a bike assembler any business will do.
Then ship the bikes from Taiwan.
Remember that our HMRC are completely useless at determining rules of origin.
I am sure that much of current Taiwanese bike product already comes from PRC.
Fighting the ADT is a waste of time, better to look for a way round the duty rather than fighting the duty itself.
Just look at the duty evasion on jeans coming into the EU via the UK.
KudosDave.
Ps I am in Thessaloniki in Greece,if this is a country in financial crisis then let's have that crisis in the UK,the wealth and investment is for all to see....wonder where the money came from???? Hehe
 
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Woosh

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Fighting the ADT is a waste of time, better to look for a way round the duty rather than fighting the duty itself.
agreed.
I was annoyed today by David's suggestion that many of us simply sit back and do nothing. If you sit back, it's because you are planning to get out.
If you want to fight for your future, I doubt you have much free time to fight Brussels as well.
 

flecc

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Oct 25, 2006
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Ps I am in Thessaloniki in Greece,if this is a country in financial crisis then let's have that crisis in the UK,the wealth and investment is for all to see....wonder where the money came from???? Hehe
I was posting about this a little while ago, Greece is not broke, it's extremely wealthy. They have problems with wealth distribution, tax collection and excessive miltary expenditure which they need to sort, but shortage of money is not one the problems. Their income from their dominant shipping industry alone is huge in comparison with their population size
.
 

Kudoscycles

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I was posting about this a little while ago, Greece is not broke, it's extremely wealthy. They have problems with wealth distribution, tax collection and excessive miltary expenditure which they need to sort, but shortage of money is not one the problems. Their income from their dominant shipping industry alone is huge in comparison with their population size
.
All the problems of our high street are not evident in this Greek city, there are no empty shops,no charity shops,all the multis are here,all well stocked. Thessaloniki is about the same size as as a UK city such as Leeds or Stoke but is so much more prosperous.
I am told that wealthy Greeks keep their money in Swiss Francs and only import to Euros when they want to invest.
There are a lot of e-bikes and easy to rent.
Greece is clearly happy to stay in the EU.
KudosDave
 
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anotherkiwi

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Jan 26, 2015
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All the problems of our high street are not evident in this Greek city, there are no empty shops,no charity shops,all the multis are here,all well stocked. Thessaloniki is about the same size as as a UK city such as Leeds or Stoke but is so much more prosperous.
I am told that wealthy Greeks keep their money in Swiss Francs and only import to Euros when they want to invest.
There are a lot of e-bikes and easy to rent.
Greece is clearly happy to stay in the EU.
KudosDave
Wealthy Greeks don't pay income tax. That can be a problem...
 

Kudoscycles

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agreed.
I was annoyed today by David's suggestion that many of us simply sit back and do nothing. If you sit back, it's because you are planning to get out.
If you want to fight for your future, I doubt you have much free time to fight Brussels as well.
I am confused which David you are referring to.
Wisper and Woosh...neither of you are looking at the big picture.
We in the UK are so small a market that we are almost irrelevant to the Chinese but the rest of Europe is very important to the big Chinese assemblers.
My conversations with the bigger suppliers is that they are already looking at EU assembly,one is already ready to start.
So why are you so concerned about fighting this tariff. You only have to have patience and the Chinese will sort the problem.
These solutions are from the bigger suppliers so it may be that you will have to buy in bigger volumes,which may be a smaller range.
Kudos will continue to supply out of current stocks and our best supplier already has EU assembly plans.
Patience needed.
KudosDave
 
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Woosh

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Patience needed.
agreed.
Even if your suppliers set up assembly in the EU, they can't avoid altogether ADD, their EU prices will be higher than previously, wiping out the 15% or so pricing advantage of imported Chinese bikes.
Until we know how much it is, none of us can continue placing new orders in case the EU impose something higher than 15%. The disruption will cause hardship for all firms caught in the doldrums.
I have been preparing Woosh to sell kits as possible main activity for a few months now.
 

Kudoscycles

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agreed.
Even if your suppliers set up assembly in the EU, they can't avoid altogether ADD, their EU prices will be higher than previously, wiping out the 15% or so pricing advantage of imported Chinese bikes.
Until we know how much it is, none of us can continue placing new orders in case the EU impose something higher than 15%. The disruption will cause hardship for all firms caught in the doldrums.
I have been preparing Woosh to sell kits as possible main activity for a few months now.
You forget that the Chinese raise their own invoices,they can put whatever value they like on exports.
I know of one company from Ningbo,who sells on e-bay,that values all UK imports at 5% of the true value,our HMRC haven't a clue of real value,they are underresourced to do a proper job.
I have reported the company to HMRC but because it is Chinese,difficult to deal with,HMRC leave them alone,there are hundreds like them.
Interestingly one of the biggest Chinese suppliers has made an appointment to visit my warehouse next week,his ideas/thoughts will be most interesting.
KudosDave
 
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Kudoscycles

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agreed.
Even if your suppliers set up assembly in the EU, they can't avoid altogether ADD, their EU prices will be higher than previously, wiping out the 15% or so pricing advantage of imported Chinese bikes.
Until we know how much it is, none of us can continue placing new orders in case the EU impose something higher than 15%. The disruption will cause hardship for all firms caught in the doldrums.
I have been preparing Woosh to sell kits as possible main activity for a few months now.
Sorry to throw petrol on the fire but where do you get 15% from?
I think it is likely to be same as vanilla bikes at 54%,I read somewhere 189% !!!
KudosDave
 

Woosh

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Sorry to throw petrol on the fire but where do you get 15% from?
I think it is likely to be same as vanilla bikes at 54%,I read somewhere 189% !!!
KudosDave
The 15% is the level at which assembly in the UK makes sense.
The potential ADD is indeed 189%, if imposed, will wipe out direct import of complete bikes from the PRC.

1. starting date: latest 20 July
2. registration will last at least 9 months.

Current market share of Chinese e-bike: about 33%, up from 19% in 2014.


The following extracts sum up the keypoints:

(17) The complaint also provided sufficient evidence of alledged injury showing a steep decline of the market share of the Union Industry from 42,5 % in 2014 to 28,6 % in the period used for the complaint, depressed and declining levels of profitability from 3,4 % of turnover in 2014 to 2,1 % in the period used for the complaint as well as underselling calculations ranging from 153 % to 206 %.

(3) The product subject to registration (‘the product concerned’) for both proceedings is cycles, with pedal assistance, with an auxiliary electric motor, originating in the PRC, currently falling within CN codes 8711 60 10 and ex 8711 60 90 (TARIC code 8711 60 90 10). These CN and TARIC codes are given for information only.

(22) The volume of exports from the PRC to the Union increased by 82 % in the period from November 2017 to February 2018 when compared to the period from November 2016 to February 2017. In addition, the average monthly volume of exports from the PRC to the Union in the period from November 2017 to February 2018 was 64 % higher than the average monthly volume of imports to the Union during the investigation period. The Commission considered that these figures provided evidence of a substantial increase in imports

(27) Giant denied that the rise of imports was substantial and claimed that it was below or in line with the overall growth in Union demand for electric bicycles. Giant quoted the publications of the Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry (‘CONEBI’) which estimated this growth to be 22,2 % in 2016 in comparison with 2015, and of EBMA, the complainant, which estimated the growth rate for 2017 at 23 % in comparison with 2016. Giant claimed that October 2017 was the proper starting point to assess the increase in imports. Giant calculated that based on Eurostat import data, monthly imports of electric bicycles had increased by 8,7 % between October 2017 and January 2018.

(33) Additional circumstances show that the further substantial rise in imports is likely to seriously undermine the remedial effect of the duties to be applied. It is indeed reasonable to assume that the imports of the product concerned may further increase prior to the adoption of provisional measures, if any, since the latter would occur at the latest around the 20th of July which would coincide with the end of the 2018 selling season of electric bicycles.

(39) Furthermore, the Commission has at its disposal sufficient evidence that the exporting producers' subsidy practices are causing material injury to the Union industry. In the complaint and the subsequent submissions related to the requests for registration, the evidence regarding the volume of imports shows a massive increase of imports in absolute terms and in terms of market share in the period between 2014 and the investigation period as well as in recent months. Specifically, the evidence available shows that Chinese exporting producers have more than tripled the volume of the product concerned exported to the Union, from 219 thousand units to 703 thousand units (+ 484 thousand units), which resulted in a sharp increase of market share from 19,2 % to 33 %. Furthermore, as indicated in recital (22) above, the same trend continued between November 2017 and February 2018. Overall, the evidence shows that the massive increase of imports of electric bicycles from the PRC is resulting in substantial adverse effects on the situation of the Union industry including depressed levels of profitability. The evidence concerning the injury factors set out in Article 3(5) of the basic anti-dumping Regulation and Article 8(4) of the basic anti-subsidy Regulation consists of data contained in the complaints and the subsequent submissions regarding registration.
 
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Wisper Bikes

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Hi Dave, I hope your having fun!

Of course we are looking at this from every angle not just one simplistic view. We are ready to start production in Taiwan next month in the same factory as our Wisper Pro bikes. We start manufacturing here in the UK next week, although Brexit will no doubt bugger that up as a long term solution!

Of course we are, at the same time, fighting for the best deal posible in Brussels, with evidence that refutes all the rubbish the EBMA are spouting. (See above)

All the best, David
 

Woosh

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(See above)
unfortunately, that was the EU findings as published in the EU OJ.
I hold little hope that ADD is going to be less than 15%, there is no real prospect of avoiding UK re-assembly from SDK.
The EU may even close that loophole eventually.
I reckon the net cost of re-assembly is 22% on a $700 bike. That wipes out any hope of beating the Bosches.
As far as buying from TW, they are years behind China on the low cost products.
 

Wisper Bikes

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These are exactly the published figures we are challenging. They are based on a lot of “secret” sources that we are not allowed to see and are simply incorrect. Hopefully you will all see the compromise we have called for one day
 
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Woosh

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my biggest fear is not knowing how much ADD is by the end of July.
 
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Wisper Bikes

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Mine too! But as you say it wont be 189% that was a frightener put out by the EBMA assisted by Bike Europe. And of course if they do win by 2020 the ADD will be applied to all ebike parts through anti circumvention.
 
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Wisper Bikes

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Monday 18 June 2018
Press release for immediate publication


Collective Members’ right to defence ignored

On Wednesday 13th June, the Collective of European Importers of Electric Bicycles had a second hearing with the European Commission. At this hearing, they also showed a European Parliament video that goes against their right to defence.

This hearing was aimed at discussing the lack of response from the Commission on the Collective's submissions so far. Furthermore, the Collective pointed out that certain elements of the proceedings go against the importers' right of defence.

Eleven of the 21 companies in the Collective travelled to Brussels to participate in the hearing. Each of them gave a detailed and sometimes very personal account of how the registration decision has injured their company in various ways.

The Registration Regulation has caused enormous chaos and has forced importers to take a variety of measures to try and protect themselves against a potential retroactive collection of 189% duties. However, all these measures are causing injury to their companies.

The Collective Members believe it is utterly unfair to have to endure, what they consider punishments, whilst not yet been "found guilty". One importer concluded: "We are hit by the results of the trial before the trial is completed. That is not the correct procedure."

During the hearing, the Collective showed the Commission a video produced by the European Parliament. The video is meant to clarify why anti-dumping legislation needs some changes. However, the issue is being introduced by referring to the electric bicycle case. This is a transcript of the introduction: “Electric bikes are powering their way across Europe. Increasingly popular, the bikes are also at the centre of an international trade dispute. At the heart of the matter is dumping; a practice that involves foreign companies selling their state-subsidized products at below market price. In this case, Chinese made electric bikes are being sold cheap in Europe, which the EU believes threatens businesses and jobs.

This video is implying that the European Parliament has made up its mind about an ongoing proceeding. This is to, put it mildly, totally unacceptable and goes once again against the Collective’s right of defence. Obviously, the Collective will take the necessary legal actions. However, this video shows that, in this alleged dumping case, political considerations seem to carry more weight than a fair and just assessment of facts.

The Collective is considering further measures to have their right of defence respected.

The full video is here:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20180530STO04606/anti-dumping-measures-addressing-unfair-trading-practices
 

Woosh

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the video is a promotional advert for Gazelle.
 
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Kudoscycles

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The last time I visited China one of my previous e-bike suppliers had pretty much given up on selling to the EU but was now concentrating on selling to the US.
Today I read that Trump intended to hit all bicycles,normal and bikes from China would be subject to 25% duty.
KudosDave
 

Woosh

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I've got an email from XMAX (Chongqing) about how to beat anti-dumping.
They have setup a factory in Toyama Prefecture, Western seaboard of Japan.
From there, you can continue getting the same bikes as before with Japanese COO.
Interesting or what?