British cyclists pay 30 per cent extra for their bikes

A punitive import tax imposed on Chinese bicycle makers is adding 30 per cent to retail prices, according to Zhang Peisheng, senior commissioner from China Chamber of Commerce.

The EU is deciding whether to extend the so-called anti-dumping duty on bicycles made in China to protect European bike brands. The EU has extended the duties twice, in 2000 and 2005. The duty rate was initially set at 36 per cent and raised to 48.5 per cent in 2005.

Chinese bicycle makers are urging the EU to drop the 17-year old anti-dumping duties. According to bicycle industry site bikebiz.com, such measures are usually imposed for five years.

According the recent Project Velo report the mean average price of an adult bike in Britain has apparently topped £350 for the first time, but the median average is lower; a family can buy four new bicycles for this price.

According to the Department for Transport’s annual National Travel Survey, in 2009, the growth in cycling is particularly associated with those in the highest income bracket.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “These import taxes increase the cost of bikes aimed at a segment of the population currently under-represented in cycling.”

Next year’s Census will reveal how bicycle use has changed over the past decade. At the time of the last Census for England & Wales in 2001, 650,000 people aged between 16 and 74 said that were bikes were their main means of travelling to work.

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