European bike manufacturers can breathe a sigh of relief: after several months of administrative wrangling, the EU has ruled in their favor. Complete bicycles from China, the world's largest bicycle production country, will still have to pay a 48.5 percent penalty duty when imported into Europe. The reason given for this decision is that Chinese manufacturers are distorting fair competition with dumping prices that are not in line with the market.

The punitive tariffs will be extended for 15 months at the request of the European Bicycle Manufacturers Association (EBMA). During this time, the EU administration will objectively examine the association's accusation as to whether Chinese bicycle manufacturers are still offering their products at dumping prices. If the investigation finds in favor of the European bicycle manufacturers, the punitive tariffs will be extended for a further five regular years. However, the EU has lifted the previous punitive tariffs on bicycle imports from Vietnam with immediate effect because no one has requested an extension.Influence on the Swiss market
Switzerland has no punitive tariffs on bicycles imported from China. Its market share is correspondingly high: 29.4 percent of all bicycles that come onto the market in this country come from China. This makes China by far the most important supplier of bicycles to Switzerland. However, because the majority of bikes imported from China are cheap bikes and children's bikes, European manufacturers are the more important suppliers in terms of value.Not least because of the EU's punitive tariffs, it is worthwhile for practically all major brand manufacturers to build their high-quality bikes in Europe. These bikes are also delivered to Switzerland: Separate production in China is usually not worthwhile for the small Swiss quantities. The extension of the EU's punitive tariffs means that this will remain the case for the time being. This not only has an impact on prices in the Swiss bike market, but also on ordering processes (bikes can often be produced more flexibly and delivered more quickly in neighboring countries) and on quality (in order for EU assembly to pay off, higher-quality individual parts tend to be assembled more carefully into complete bikes).