Trade Remedies Authority Finds Scrapping E-bike Tariffs Could Save Uk £51m Per Year

25th May 2024

TRA finds keeping anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on Chinese e-bikes would not be in economic interest of the UK.

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has published its initial findings recommending that anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on electric bicycles (e-bikes) from China should be revoked.

Following the transition reviews of the measures, the TRA found that keeping them in place would not be in the economic interest of the UK. Revoking the measures could:

benefit the UK economy by an average of £51m per year;

save consumers an average of £260 per e-bike; and
result in an average of 31,000 more e-bikes being bought per year in the UK.

Sales of e-bikes 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 e-bikes 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.

TRA Chief Executive Oliver Griffiths said, "We always assess the impact of a trade remedy measure on the UK economy. Our interim conclusion is that the benefits to UK bicycle producers from continuing the current measures on e-bikes would be significantly outweighed by harm to the rest of the economy. We project that removing the measures could save consumers around £260 per e-bike and could benefit the UK economy by around £51 million annually.

Alternative options
Under the UK's revised trade remedies regime, if the TRA finds that a measure is not in the economic interest of the UK, it offers the Secretary of State for Business and Trade alternative options to revoking the measures.

These alternative options included only applying the measures to folding e-bikes as UK producers are more heavily concentrated in this market. A period of consultation is now open for on all of the options presented, after which the TRA will make its final recommendation to the Secretary of State.

As part of these reviews, for the first time, the TRA conducted a consumer survey as part of its assessment of how measures on these imports would affect the overall UK economy. The survey targeted e-bike customers and helped the TRA assess consumer sensitivity to e-bike prices.

Businesses that may be affected by the reviews (such as importers or exporters of the products or UK producers of similar products) can now comment on the initial findings via the TRA’s online case platform. They can also stay up to date with developments in each case, which will be posted on the TRA’s public files.

The goods investigated were classified as cycles, with pedal assistance, with an auxiliary electric motor.

The existing tariffs on e-bikes imported from China range from 18.8% to 79.3%. These measures were transitioned when the UK left the EU.

The averages used in this release are estimates representing the average impacts across scenarios modelled.

The investigations covered the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. In order to assess injury, the TRA examined the period from April 2019 to March 2022.

The TRA is the UK body that investigates whether trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports.

Trade remedy investigations were carried out by the EU Commission on the UK’s behalf until the UK left the EU. A number of EU trade remedy measures of interest to UK producers were carried across into UK law when the UK left the EU and the TRA is currently reviewing each one to assess whether it is suitable for UK needs.