Volume 22, nr. 9 September 2018
ON TOP LEVEL WITH BIKE EUROPE
WWW.BIKE-EU.COM/SUBSCRIBE
Trade Journal for the Bicycle, E-Bike & Scooter Market
Outrunning Dumping Duties & Tariffs RELOCATION FACED WITH RESTRICTIONS
P. 8
Bosch eBike Systems CEO Claus Fleischer Predicting the E-Bike Future MARKET REPORTS RUSSIA, CHINA P. 9,10
MORE EUROBIKE NEWS
P. 14
INTERVIEW
P. 7
As China’s (electric) bike export is hit hard by EU anti-dumping duties and US tariffs
All-Out Production Relocation by Chinese Makers Coming? SHANGHAI, China – After the EU imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on e-bikes Imported from China, the US also hit them with an import tariff. Will it trigger Chinese makers to relocate?
O
n 18 July the European Union announced the 37 to 84% provisional anti-dumping duties on e-bikes imported from China. About one month later the United States declared a 25% tariff on its import of the same
Harley Davidson Looking for New Markets and Turns to E-Bikes
M
ILWAUKEE, USA - It’s considered as one of the company’s options for blazing into new trails. But it’s not one that fits with the image of the iconic motorcycle brand. Harley Davidson is looking into e- bikes as well as lightweight electric motorcycles. The listed company that annually makes some 6 billion US dollars is steering into new markets as consumer demands are changing fast. In 2019 the company is to launch its first electric motorcycle “to tackle the urban landscape”.
product. And there are more EU dumping duties and US tariffs coming; also for regular bicycles and (electric) bike parts. How the Chinese manufacturers and exporters of these products are responding to these measures became apparent at last July’s Eurobike. Here for instance the Golden Wheel Group showed that it will switch production from China to the Czech Republic. Is it that simple to avoid and outrun the dumping duties and Trump-tariffs? At first sight that’s what is about to happen. An all-out production relocation by Chinese makers to other Asian countries. And in particular
to countries that enjoy EU trading benefits for example through EU’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) or through Free Trade Agreements resulting in duty free export.
More to consider A relocation to the US will also be considered for the production of high-end e-bikes as well as to (Eastern) Europe. Or are there other considerations that influence the decision of Chinese exporters to move their production? And to what extent does legislation also come into play here? Before delving deeper into the con-
Putting Bike Industry at Core of Sustainable Development ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands – Following the successful first World Cycling Forum held in Porto last year, this trade journal in cooperation with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) will organise the second edition of this International Conference that focusses on the top of the industry. The 2nd
World Cycling Forum is scheduled for Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 June 2019 and will take place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The main theme of this 2-day International Conference for the industries’ top management is “Putting the Bicycle Industry at the Core of Sustainable Development”. More info will follow soon.
siderations that will be made; there’s also another option to be regarded. That’s the obvious one of absorbing the duties and tariffs of the EU and the US. This means that the Chinese exporters together with their import customers, each partially bear EU’s 37% (provisional) anti-dumping duty (for most Chinese e-bike exporters) and/or the 25% tariff of the United States. Something that could be a possibility; in particular at higher priced e-bikes. More on page 8
‘One Third of EU Importers Stopped Sourcing E-Bikes from China’
G
AND, Belgium - To what extent the registration and the imposition of provisional dumping duties on the import of e-bikes from China is harmful to import companies has recently been investigated by the Collective of European Importers of Electric Bicycles. It brings to light that 33% of all importers have stopped their e-bike imports from China and have not found an alternative solution. The survey confirms that the proceeding is causing actual injury to importers with the reported damage to be significant.