Text: Wheel Giant

On February 6, 2025, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted the recommendation from the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) and announced the removal of anti-dumping and countervailing measures on non-folding e-bikes imported from China, effective February 7, 2025. According to statistics, non-folding e-bikes account for about 95% of the UK’s e-bike market. The TRA concluded that maintaining punitive tariffs on Chinese bicycles "was not in the UK’s economic interests," marking this policy change as a significant milestone.

The UK has also removed the double-tariff system for non-folding e-bikes, while folding e-bikes with tariff numbers 8711601000 and 8711609010 will remain subject to the original tariff rates, which range from 10.3% to 70.1% for anti-dumping duties and 3.9% to 17.2% for countervailing duties. The new policy is valid from February 7, 2025, to January 18, 2029. TRA has indicated that they will notify industry stakeholders about the expiration date for these measures, allowing parties to apply for a review extension. The TRA also emphasized that removing these tariffs would save costs for both consumers and importers, with consumers saving an average of £200 per e-bike.

UK e-bike manufacturers were shocked by this decision and expressed dissatisfaction, fearing that it would harm the UK’s domestic bicycle industry. They are concerned that the move will lead to a surge of low-priced Chinese e-bikes flooding the UK market, putting pressure on local manufacturers.

In response, the UK government stated that protecting the UK bicycle industry from unfair competition is important, and that it will take action to combat unsafe e-bikes.

The European Bicycle Manufacturers Association (EBMA) expressed regret over the UK's decision and stated that they will closely monitor the potential risk of circumvention arising from this decision to ensure that the European market is not affected by subsidized e-bikes from China. EBMA emphasized that this decision does not impact the EU's anti-dumping and countervailing measures. The EBMA also pointed out that, under the UK's post-Brexit trade policy, the UK’s trade policies have become independent of the EU, meaning that this policy change in the UK will not affect the EU's anti-dumping and countervailing measures.