The European Union has called for the registration of Chinese electric bicycles imports in the Union.
The call followed a move by the bloc to curb cheap imports which European manufacturers say are flooding the market.
European Union’s official journal said the European Commission had sufficient evidence to show that Chinese manufacturers were dumping e-bikes in Europe and were receiving subsidies.
The latest in a series of EU studies into measures against Chinese exports ranging from solar panels to steel, the Commission has launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into e-bikes.
Taiwan’s Giant, one of the world’s largest bicycle makers with factories in China as well as the Netherlands, denied that imports rose substantially, the EU journal said.
The registration system for e-bikes would allow eventual duties be backdated to early May, it added.
The European Bicycle Manufacturers Association (EBMA), whose complaints prompted the investigations, says Chinese companies are selling pedal-assist e-bikes in the EU at prices which are sometimes below the cost of production, aided by subsidies.
EBMA had called for registration, arguing that a surge of low-priced imports could result in a stockpile ahead of the main 2018 selling season, undermining the effect of potential duties.
The Commission has until July 20 to determine whether to impose provisional anti-dumping duties. If imposed, they would also apply to the period during which imports are registered. The EU official journal said that this would start on Friday.
Exports from Chinese producers, which include Battle-Fushida, Aima and Tianjin Golden Wheel, rose by 82 percent from November 2017 to February 2018, compared with the same period a year earlier, the journal said. Prices were 8 percent lower.
EBMA said it welcomed what it said was a vital first step to protect the EU industry, coming in time to prevent a surge of e-bike imports through the main summer sales months.