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.