(BRAIN) — Two China-based e-mobility manufacturers applied to the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) for new status to pay a lower anti-dumping import tariff rate to export into the United Kingdom.
The TRA is recommending that Jinhua Otmar Technology Co. Limited, PRC, and Jinhua Seno Technology Co. Limited, PRC, should pay a non-sampled, co-operating overseas exporter anti-dumping amount of 16.2% — rather than the 62.1% they currently have to pay — and that the new rate should be backdated to the initiation of the review on June 23, 2022.
New reviews allow new exporters to enter the UK market at a fair rate, rather than being penalized for not taking part in the original investigation. The review investigation period was from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022.
The authority opened the review of e-bikes from China in June following a request from the two new exporters who pay the same anti-dumping tariff rate as exporters who did not cooperate with the original 2019 EU anti-dumping measure.
To be considered a new exporter, an applicant must not have exported the reviewed goods to the EU during the period of investigation in which the current measure is based.
The proposal is contained in a Statement of Essential Facts, which is open for comment. The TRA will consider any comments before making a final recommendation to the Secretary of State later this year.
The TRA said the UK e-bike market was worth 280 million euros ($279.5 million) in sales in 2020 and is expected to triple by 2024. The authority said the change in tariff rate would help meet demand by making it possible for new manufacturers to export to the UK and provide more consumer options.
In March, the U.S. Trade Representative's office reinstated 352 expired product exclusions affecting bike products from China that were subjected to a 25% U.S. Section 301 tariff since Jan 1, 2021, when the previous exclusion expired.
