The European Union (EU)’s decision to remove its anti-dumping duties on bicycles imported from Vietnam will not only benefit European customers but also help Vietnamese bike manufacturers overcome difficulties they have faced over the past five years.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission has sent an official letter to the Vietnamese mission to the EU, saying that the anti-dumping taxes of 34.5 percent on average that the body has imposed on Vietnam ’s bikes since July 14, 2005 will be removed as from July 15, 2010.

The ministry also said that the decision was the result of tireless efforts by Vietnamese agencies, associations and businesses, including the MoIT, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vietnamese Trade Office in the EU, to provide information on the Vietnamese bike sector for the EU’s anti-dumping investigation agency, thus helping it make a fair conclusion.

Over the past five years, exports of made-in-Vietnam bikes to the EU dropped sharply, from 1 million units in 2005 to 21,400 units in 2009.

In 2007 and 2008, Vietnam ’s bikes accounted for only 0.61 percent and 0.40 percent, respectively, of the EU’s total bike imports.

Vietnam ’s bike export revenue from the EU went down continuously, plunging 95.3 percent in 2007 against the figure in 2006.

The EC’s imposition of anti-dumping duty has also forced Vietnamese bike manufacturers to cut their employment to 5,000 workers this year from 210,000 in 2005./.

Source: Vnplus