“Cheaper eBikes? The real challenge is stopping unregulated bikes hitting the streets”
There has been a mixture of trade reaction to the news that the UK will shortly have cheaper eBikes available thanks to a relaxation of anti-dumping duties (a hangover from pre-Brexit days) on non-folding electric bikes imported from China.
Much of the industry appears to have been blindsided by the news, with responses mostly skewed negatively to the news on numerous trade only chat groups and forums. Some reaction has been positive to the concept of cheaper eBikes in the UK with the potential to boost user numbers.
One of the nation’s largest retailers of electric bikes – Halfords – told Cycling Industry News that it welcomed the opportunity for the UK to catch up with other European nations on eBike sales, but emphasised that the move doesn’t address perhaps the biggest challenge affecting the sector – product that doesn’t meet existing legislation getting on UK roads.
Katie Begley, head of trading – cycling at Halfords, told CIN: “The UK is currently way behind our European neighbours when it comes to the number of ebikes sold. A reduction in levies on non-folding Chinese ebikes will help address this problem and, as the nation’s biggest seller of compliant ebikes, at Halfords we believe it will contribute to an increase in the number of people buying ebikes. But the real challenge is ensuring unregulated and dangerous products do not find themselves on the road, and the government must play its part alongside the rest of the industry in banning conversion kits.”
Illegal ‘eBikes’ or products commonly mistaken for electric bikes are regularly conflated with the real thing – legal electric bikes bought from reputable retailers.
As the trade gets to grips with this latest change to the cycle market – the Bicycle Association is among those seeking clarification on definitions that will be used by customs – the implications appear to be numerous. Volt told the BBC the news was a “kick in the teeth” for British manufacturers. Other leading trade execs have noted it will add complexity to exporting eBikes to the EU, where it was recently ruled to maintain anti-dumping levies on all eBikes from China.
The looming question for the trade must also be: What will the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority decide on it’s other, broader examination of bicycles and certain parts from China. Should the TRA decide again that levies should be revoked – and the government follows through on its advice – the implications will be far wider for the UK’s cycle market.
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