Giant Appeals EU Duties on Vietnamese & Chinese Imports

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Oct 18)- Giant Manufacturing Co., Taiwan's biggest bicycle maker, filed a lawsuit contesting European Union tariffs on bicycles from Vietnam and China. Subsidiary Giant China Co., located in an industrial park in Kunshan, a city near Shanghai, wants Europe's second-highest court to overturn five-year "anti dumping" duties of as much as 34.5% against Vietnam and levies of 48.5% against China. The 25-nation EU imposed the duties July 12 to counter a declining market share for European bike producers, seeking to protect EU producers including Accell Group NV from less-expensive imports. Vietnam's share of the EU bicycle market grew to nearly 9 % last year from about 2 % in 2000, while China's share expanded to 4 % from less than 1 %, according to the bloc. The average price for a bicycle in Europe fell 7 % to € 115 a unit in 2003 compared with 2000, according to the EU, which said the market share of European producers fell to 51 % last year from 67 % four years earlier. The case, filed Sept. 23 at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, is T-372/05 Giant (China) v Council. (Source: The China Post)