The number of regular bicycles imported from China to the European Union continues to rise. For years the number had remained flat at 350,000 to 400,000 units, but 2017 saw a big increase to 635,000 units. Bike Europe noted that by the end of the first half of 2018, imports already stood at 380,000 units, putting them on track for a further annual increase of about 20 percent.
This shift occurred despite an import tax of 14 percent and an anti-dumping duty of 48.5 percent on Chinese bicycles. The anti-dumping duty actually expired on June 6 of this year, but it will remain in effect until at least March 2019, while the European Commission conducts its nine-month review of a possible extension, as requested by the European Bicycle Manufacturers' Association (EBMA).
In another shift, Cambodia has become the EU's largest supplier of foreign-made regular bicycles, and by a wide margin. Unlike China, Cambodia enjoys duty-free status under the EU's Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). This can lower the cost of the country's bicycles by up to 14 percent. The E.U.'s bicycle imports from Cambodia were up about 7 percent to 870,000 for the first half of 2018.
As a result, Taiwan, which had reigned for 20 years as the EU's top supplier of regular bicycles, has been dethroned. In 2016, Taiwanese bicycle imports declined by 16 percent. For the first half of this year, the decline got steeper, reaching 23 percent, for a total of 560,000 units.
The good news for Taiwan is the surge in imports of the more expensive electric bicycles. Almost 100,000 units came into the EU from Taiwan during the first half of 2018, up 54 percent year on year.
