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news
Brompton Junction Launch 01British bike manufacturers fearing cheap Chinese imports after Brexit
British bike firms have expressed fears that they will be unable to compete with state-subsidised Chinese rivals if Brexit results in an end to import tariffs. Increased competition in the UK market is also likely to be compounded by reduced access to the EU.
Bikes from China are currently subject to EU ‘anti-dumping’ tariffs of up to 48.5%. Bloomberg reports that these are levied because large state subsidies give Chinese manufacturer’s an unfair advantage.
The UK is currently going through each of the EU’s anti-dumping rules and where British producers account for no more than 1% of the domestic market, the tariff will be dropped.
While folding bike maker, Brompton, has stockpiled £1m in parts as contingency for a “shit hits the fan” No Deal Brexit, CEO Will Butler-Adams has been broadly positive about leaving the EU up until now, saying that the fall in the value of sterling following the June 2016 referendum had enabled his firm to reduce prices in overseas markets.
However, commenting on the removal of anti-dumping tariffs, he said: “We’ve got coronavirus, we’ve got Brexit, we need as a nation to be supporting industries that have potential to grow.
“There’s this fantastic opportunity in cycling. You would have thought the government would support it and nurture that industry.”
A spokesperson for the Department for International Trade said: “We have been consulting with British bicycle producers and recognise the challenges that the industry faces. However, British consumers will bear the brunt of higher prices if anti-dumping measures were retained or carried across from the EU.”
Children’s bike firm, Frog Bikes, said that in July it submitted evidence to the government showing that domestic producers make up more than 3% of the UK market and therefore anti-dumping tariffs should still apply.
“It’s a substantial threat to us,” said co-founder Shelley Lawson. “It’s not good for the cycling consumer at all.”
Lawson said that recent efforts to contact the Trade Remedies Authority, the government agency responsible, had not elicited a response. She says she does not know how the decision was taken or how it can be appealed.
Frog also does 50% of its business in the EU, but expects to be hit by tariffs from January. Lawson said that even with a trade deal, EU customers would find it harder to source their bikes because of extra customs measures.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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33 comments
Cheaper bikes are a good thing. Brexit poses a lot of economic problems and I'm sure that the bike industry is one of many industries that will be hurt, but access to cheaper goods/services for cyclists is not one of those problems.
By the way, cheap chinese bikes have had a wonderful effect on developing countries. We're pretty privileged if we're in a position to fret about whether our favourite brand will be able to stay afloat selling £2000 bikes. A much larger number of people in poorer countries would struggle to justify £2000 for a car, and they're lucky they can get a £40 bike fresh out of the container from China, which - although lacking prestigious branding - will still get them from A to B just fine.
Check out the price of Nalini or Castelli in the USA. A stock 35% import tarrif imposed on EU sporting goods. That is on trade pre distributor price which adds about 45% to the final retail price ABOVE what we pay. Like cv19 im weary of uneducated opinion so listen to the doctors before the politicians. With brexit it seems politicians are telling business what is going to happen to them WITHOUT listening to business.
Im not political but I, like most plain joes, dont want to be worse off but I cant see how we are not going to be. Harder holidays, More divided society and Your Gabba could be 1.45 times current retail
Listening to the doctors has got us another month of lock-down. Yay! Pity the roads won't be as empty as they were in March. I rode from Cromer to Hunstanton and back and only saw two cars....the second was a Police car.
At least we've got our "Blue" Passports back!
And plenty of time to debate whether it's actually black when queuing in autre pays.
As a premium product I doubt that Brompton have much to fear: let's face it, they are hardly cheap and they are still flying off the shelves. Rather bizarrely, the more they seem to cost, the more they fly - I'm looking at you CHPT3 riders.
But generally successive UK governments have been supportive of the cycling industry. For example, I'd be very interested to see what percentage of Brompton's UK sales come off the back of the RTW scheme.
Mass production - of pretty much anything - is over for the UK - unless it is very high tech and this is the same for bike manufacturers. That said, there are plenty of highly bespoke, specialist manufacturers / builders - of kids bikes too. My son is on his second Early Rider and is ready for a third...or maybe we'll get that US flag-branded Frog racer!
'Frog also does 50% of its business in the EU, but expects to be hit by tariffs from January. Lawson said that even with a trade deal, EU customers would find it harder to source their bikes because of extra customs measures.'
er, wasn't brexthick supposed to be the best thing ever?
Chinese bikes can be unbelievably cheap. I spent a few weeks in Wuxi, and looked at the bikes in Carrefour. Some of them were effectively under £20--and looked it.
Much of the cost of cheap bikes can't be lowered however, shop rent, staff wages etc are all higher here than in China. A bike that cost £20 in China would cost several hundreds here no matter how you squeeze the price of the physical object
Chinese bikes sell new in Australia for as little as $99.. that's around 50 quid.
Stuff gets cheaper: Brexit is terrible.
Stuff gets more expensive: Brexit is terrible.
I doubt this will make any difference at the mid to high end part of the market but it should significantly reduce the price for entry level bikes, none of which are currently made anywhere near the UK.
I'll be too busy worrying about hunting enough squirrel meat for winter to notice any cheap Chinese bikes tbh
Remember, kids - don't eat their brains or you might get some bizarre prion type disease.
Stay away from the Forest of Dean; they're mine!
Come and have the sod thats chewing my garden. Just leave me the boar. Less nutty.
November lock-down, both sides of the Channel but we're still full steam ahead AFAIK for the glory that will be Brexit.
Yawn
Hey, this just seems like more from "project fear".
I await with great anticipation the wonder of our glorious Sunny Uplands...
Grayling, Duncan Smith and Rees Mogg told us so, so it must be true...
To be fair to him Reese Mogg also said he expected it would take 50 years for the economy to recover from Brexit.
What I can't understand is why anyone voted for that.
Don't be fair to him. He deserves all possible abuse.
And then a bit more, just to be sure.
Ah Brexit the "gift" that keeps on giving.
I for one welcome our new Chinese tat-dumping overlords.
Not sure Brompton are at risk theirs is essentially a luxury product, and somewhat immune.
Since Frog did the same thing to Islabike as the Chinese are about to do to them - I have a bit less sympathy. I also presume that since they also have a niche that it is less exposed than some other cycle manufacturers. I also had no idea they were "British" though I assume only final assembly happens in the UK.
I don't think Brompton or Frog have to worry too much as they are premium quality products.
It'll be interesting if it results in the market being flooded with cheap e-bikes and e-scooters. Could see a lot of take up amongst people just looking for a frugal mode of transport. Might help boost the argument for better infrastructure.
That's what BSA-Triumph said about Honda motorcycles.
Yea but BSA-Triumphs were unreliable pieces of crap. Honda were cheaper and better
it's also worth noting that Honda's success was somewhat accidental, they started out thinking they were going to compete with Harley but instead they ended up creating a market segment for low capacity mopeds and bikes and expanded upwards from there
Exactly.
As an existing Islabike customer if I want to buy something cheaper and of inferior quality I have multiple options already.
The only thing Islabike (and Brompton) have to fear is if the Chinese imports are cheaper and of comparable or better quality.
Exactly. If the Chinese bikes are cheaper and better, why spend more on a British bike? That's what happened to the British motorcycle industry, which was once extremely successful; now non-existent because the Japanese bikes were faster, more reliable and cheaper.
Learn from history or repeat it; until you do.
Brompton are doing very well selling their premium product in China already, so I don't think it's quite the same as the BSA-Triumph/Honda comparison.
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/8179/brompton-sales-see-five-fold-increas...
I wonder if that had anything to do with our business owners taking the piss by not re-investing the profits in product improvement; mainly driven by the view that Britain was best!
Absolutely. The Japanese bike makers were innovative and inventive, and invested in the future, while the Brits just sat on their laurels and expected the world to carry on exactly the same.
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