China Dumping Duties

BOLOGNA, Italy (March 2) - Mr. Pasquale de Micco of the Italian Ministry of Production/Commerce was the undoubted star of the Italian bicycle industry meeting in Bologna on the 21st February 2004. The meeting was called by the ANCMA to review progress in the matter of the industry's total objection to the removal of anti-dumping duties on China and followed the meeting organized on the 8th of February 2003. Mr. De Micco is responsible for anti-dumping matters at the Ministry - and he gave a very thorough and clear explanation of the whole anti-dumping process to over a hundred bicycle and parts makers who made up the audience. He acknowledged the strong feeling of the meeting that action had to be taken and indicated that the government had great sympathy with the position of the industry. He was followed by Brian Montgomery, Chairman of the European Bicycle Manufacturers' Association (EBMA) who brought everyone up to date on the latest bicycle import figures into Europe - and also to the USA and Japan where due to Chinese imports the industries are almost moribund. He then outlined the latest in what he called: "The cheating of the Chinese bicycle industry: ·The use of export subsidies of 14% on Chinese bicycles and parts - completely forbidden by WTO rules (and very inappropriate in that China is the dominant maker of bicycles in the world). ·The fact that China is still considered as a member of EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for bicycles when they have the capacity to produce 80% of the world's bicycles. Why the preference? ·The system that mainland China bicycle makers are using in sending containers of bicycles to Europe - but the complete shipment papers for import are coming to the European port of arrival from friends in Taiwan (or another bicycle producing country in the Far-East with Chinese connections). This is all done to escape the anti-dumping duty - to take further parts of the EU market - and both the EU industry and the Commission lose. ·The massive stockpiling of Chinese bicycles now going on in the 10 countries who will join the EU-15 in 2004. These bicycles are already there or are in shipment, not to serve the markets of the new member states, but to be ready to be shipped to the EU-15 after the 1st May 2004; the date of entry for the new member states. After this date the present duties which apply to the EU-15 will apply to the new ten EU members where present duty rates are lower." Brian Montgomery also stipulated the objection by the EBMA to the proposals in the EU Green Paper on Certificates of Origin that these certificates should be issued by either the exporter or the importer of bicycles - instead of the authorities in the exporting country. He stated: "We have an imperfect system now but at least the certificates are issued by an official body who can be challenged. The proposed change would lead to complete anarchy." At the 21st February meeting the assembled makers were urged to contact their Ministers and to register their disapproval to the Commission on these practices. During the meeting, the audience has been also informed that the Italian Ministry is already working on the above problems. This meeting followed the February 2003 Bologna meeting called by Moreno Fioravanti, Andrea Carraro and ANCMA and was a confirmation of the wake-up call to the Italian government. (MH)