UK reviewing bicycle imports from China after recommending relaxing eBike levies

The post-Brexit landscape for the UK continues to develop as the Trade Remedies Authority has begun a new transition review into anti-dumping measures on bicycles and certain bicycle parts from China.

The UK is currently operating a number of anti-dumping measures on imports, inherited from its time as part of the EU. Post-Brexit, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) is examining whether existing anti-dumping levies are still appropriate for the UK, then making recommendations to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

Electric bikes have already been investigated by the TRA, which concluded that scrapping eBike tariffs on China imports could save the UK £51 million a year. Culling the levy would save consumers an average of £260 per eBike, said the TRA, and bring in an average of 31,000 more eBikes into the UK per year.

The TRA admitted such a move wouldn’t all be one-way positive news through: “Sales of eBikes in the UK reached an estimated £325 million in 2023, compared with £96 million in 2018, and are expected to grow further in the coming years. Although it is likely that dumping and subsidisation of Chinese eBikes would likely recur if the measures were no longer applied and that the UK production industry would suffer some injury, it was found that this injury did not outweigh the benefits to the UK economy or consumers if the measures were revoked.”

Alternative options (such as only applying such measures to folding eBikes with UK producers more heavily concentrated in this market), may be presented by the TRA to the Secretary of State, depending on results of a period of consultation.

New anti-dumping investigation to examine bicycle imports, wheels, brakes & more

The latest investigation by the TRA is focused on the more traditional part of the market and includes Category 1 goods (bicycles – including delivery tricycles, not motorised) and Category 2 goods (certain bicycle parts), in quantities of 300 or more units per month (per type). That includes: “brake levers coaster braking hubs complete wheels with or without tubes, tyres and sprockets crank-gear derailleur gears frames (painted, anodised, polished or lacquered) free-wheel sprocket-wheels front forks (painted, anodised, polished or lacquered) handlebars hub brakes”.

That broad category focuses on bicycles imported from China – and consigned from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Tunisia. Current relevant anti-dumping duties range between 19.% and 48.5%.

Deadline to register an interest in this latest bicycle imports investigation is 6 September. A statement will be made in May 2025 before the final recommendation is made August 2025.