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Scoop: British bike makers face a wave of cheap Chinese imports after Brexit, as EU anti-dumping rules are dropped by the U.K. 1/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-30/brexit-sparks-a-battle-over-chinese-bikes-as-u-k-ends-eu-levies?sref=yMmXm5Iy
Brompton Bicycles is among the companies in the firing line, as DIT has decided not to maintain the EU's tariffs of up to 48.5% on bikes coming in from China. The levy was introduced in response to large state support by China to its manufacturers 2/ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2019.225.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ:L:2019:225:TOC
Post-Brexit, the UK has control of its trade defence policy. It says it will only maintain EU anti-dumping rules if domestic producers make up more than 1% of the local market for a good. They say British bikes failed on this metric 3/ https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trade-remedies-transition-policy
With coronavirus and Brexit, plus a boom in cycling in the UK, Brompton MD Will Butler-Adams says the government should be supporting British manufacturing in this area -- not exposing it to unfair Chinese competition 4/
The govt says it's doing this to benefit consumers with cheaper bikes. But the local producers (perhaps unsurprisingly) warn of inferior quality, threats to safety from poorer builds 5/
Slight plot twist - Frog Bikes, one of the U.K.'s biggest makers, said it showed evidence to DIT that domestic bike production *does* exceed 1% of the local market, and that it's at least 3%. But they didn't get a formal response from government, and don't know how to appeal 6/
Expect more of this post-Brexit. Trade has the ability to cause dislocation and upheaval for industries, and the government will have to toe a fine line between doing what's best for consumers and supporting local jobs.. ends/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-30/brexit-sparks-a-battle-over-chinese-bikes-as-u-k-ends-eu-levies?sref=yMmXm5Iy
