Malaysian, Thai, Indonesia bike makers accused of dumping

Malaysian, Thai, Indonesia bike makers accused of dumping

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia and the European Union are headed
for a legal standoff over accusations that the country along with
Thailand and Indonesia are dumping cheap bicycles on the European
market, newspapers reported here yesterday.

Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah
Aziz said the complaint was formally lodged at the Commission by
the European Bicycle Manufacturers Association on Feb. 3.

The petition alleged that the three companies sold bicycles in
Europe that were between 44 and 48 percent cheaper than the
domestic prices in the countries of origin, taking away some 10.3
percent of total market share.

"The affected manufacturers should take a coordinated stand to
counter the petition by engaging international legal firms to
represent them," Rafidah was quoted by local news reports as
saying.

She vowed to ensure that any decision made by the EU in the
complaint would be consistent with the provisions of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and carried out in a
transparent manner.

Under GATT rules, the EU would have to prove that
manufacturers from the three countries were really dumping and
that the action had caused material injury to its domestic
industry.

Bicycle exports from the three countries to the EU had jumped
by more than 600 percent in four years -- from 248,000 units in
1989 to 1.68 million units last year.

This had raised their market share from 2.4 percent to 10.3
percent. Of that figure, 3.04 percent was from Malaysia, 2.9
percent from Indonesia and 4.38 percent from Thailand, officials
said.

Rafidah said the anti-dumping investigations by the EU would
directly affect seven bicycle manufacturers in Malaysia.

If the allegation was established, the seven companies would
lose the generalized system of preferences which allowed 17.5
percent tax exemption and would have to pay anti-dumping tax, she
said.

For Malaysia alone, bicycle exports increased from 57.04
million ringgit (US$22.8 million) in 1992 to 98.37 million
ringgit ($39.3 million) last year.

It sold 45.166 million ringgit ($18 million) worth of bicycles
between January and July this year, mainly to Belgium, France and
Germany.

Only last month, Malaysia had slammed the EU for imposing an
anti-dumping levy on color televisions made in Malaysia and other
Southeast Asian states.