Chinese Bike Makers Attend Hearing in Brussels; Dumping Committee Votes this Week

BRUSSELS, Belgium – An important step in the anti-dumping proceedings against the import of Chinese made bicycles into the European Union takes place this week. The European Commission will put its proposal for an extension of the existing measures for a vote by EU member states. In an effort to have the proposal dropped representatives from the Chinese industry attended a hearing in Brussels last week.

The dumping committee that assembles this week consists of members of the Ministries of Economic Affairs of the 27 member states of the European Union. Their voting on the proposal for an extension of the measures will of course have a very substantial say in the outcome. But, it is not the decisive factor.

According to René Takens, President of the European industry association for bike makers, COLIBI, it is the European Commission that takes the final decision on a drop or a continuation of the 48.5% anti-dumping duty on imported Chinese made bikes.

About when this decision is expected and when the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union can be expected, with which the dumping measures come into force, Takens said: “That’s not clear yet. The European Commission can decide on it in August or September after which the publication in the Official Journal will follow within days. However, it is also possible that the Commission will wait for October and the date to which it is forced according to the dumping regulations, to take a decision.”

Last week the Chinese bicycle makers that attended a hearing with the European Commission on the issue, condemned the proposed extension of the anti-dumping duties on their products as ‘unwarranted’, urging the European Union to drop the 18-year-old duties.
Representatives from the China Chamber of Commerce for Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) and the China Bicycle Association travelled to Brussels for the hearing. Senior Commissioner for CCCME, Zhang Peisheng, said that Chinese bicycle imports into the EU had decreased by 38% during the three year review investigation period, and at the same time, their average prices had risen by 125% since 2007.

According to the statistics of Eurostat (EU’s data bureau) the bike import from China dropped from 783,000 units in 2007 to 461,000 in 2010; a drop of 41.1%. This trade journal does not have the Eurostat figures on the value of the import from China.

"Based on these two trends alone, it is impossible to agree that Chinese bicycles have caused any injury to the EU bicycle industry. This simply defies the basic laws of economics," Zhang explained.