The anti-dumping tax will no longer be passed on to UK consumers on non-folding e-bikes, but Amflow bikes will still be subject to the tariffs.
Chinese-made e-bikes should become hundreds of pounds cheaper in the coming weeks, after the UK government decided it would remove anti-dumping tariffs from everything but folding e-bikes. But sorry to be the bearer of bad news – the DJI-powered Amflow Carbon Pro won’t qualify for exemptions because it is made in Taiwan.
Unfortunately the Amflow PL Carbon and PL Carbon Pro won’t be getting any cheaper with the end of tariffs on Chinese e-bikes.
Earlier this week we reported on the EU’s decision to keep its tariffs on Chinese e-bikes in place for at least the next five years, and questioned whether the UK would follow its lead. In a split from the EU then, the UK government has concluded that keeping the taxes in place “would not be in the economic interests of the UK” and will abandon the levy immediately. The only real concession to UK manufacturers is excluding folding bikes from the change, allowing Brompton to stay competitive.
The Smartmotion Xplore is a tidy looking Chinese e-bike, but it’s only available in two sizes.
How much cheaper will Chinese e-bikes get?
The current anti-dumping measure stands at between 10.3% and 70.1%, which is an incredibly broad spread but, even at the lower end, worth having. And there’s another tariff rate that could be topping up the price of Chinese e-bikes, called a countervailing measure. This is designed to bump up the price of a bike and counter any subsidies the government reckons are being unfairly applied in its home country, in this case China. The rates here stand at 3.9% to 17.2%, and that’s on top of the regular tariff amounts.
The Trade Remedies Authority, that advised the Goverment last year to drop the tariffs, expects consumers to save £200 on average, although high-end e-mtbs will almost certainly see greater price cuts.
The 4Leaf LE67 is a lightweight model with Bafang’s M820 motor, giving 75Nm torque but weighing just 2.3kg.
Are there any other Chinese e-bike brands worth looking at?
The big question for e-bike buyers then are, which bikes will get cheaper? The name that immediately springs to mind is Amflow, given the brand’s strong connection to Chinese company DJI. But after contacting Amflow, it confirmed that sufficient manufacturing is done in Taiwan to keep the taxes in place. Which is a blow to UK riders as the price cuts could have been significant.
The Smartmotion Xplore certainly looks like a modern e-mtb, with more than a hint of Turbo Levo about it.
Alternatives to Amflow are scarce currently, and you won’t see any Chinese models in our round-up of the best electric mountain bikes, but dropping the tariffs may well lead to an influx of new brands into the UK market. A couple of models we’ve come across in our travels across the web are Smartmotion and 4Leaf. The Smartmotion Xplore is a full carbon e-mtb with 160mm/150mm travel, Bafang M820 motor with 75Nm, three battery options (360Wh, 540Wh, and 720Wh) and an integrated top tube display.
The 4Leaf LEC971 has an elaborate twin-link design.
4Leaf has a big range of e-bikes, with a scattergun approach to the design and engineering, but some of its models look pretty slick. For example, there’s the lightweight LE67 model with mullet wheels and Bafang M820 motor. At the other end of the spectrum is the burly LEC971 – snappy names, right?! – with 160mm travel and choice of Bafang motors.
4Leaf’s LEC971 can be ordered with the M560 motor, boasting a whopping 130Nm of torque!
The prices on these 4Leaf models are extremely competitive; how does $3,240 for the complete LE67 sound? But you’ll certainly be taking a risk, as the chances of any kind of back-up if anything goes wrong is extremely slim.
So is this really a win for consumers and mountain bikers in the UK? It’s too early to tell, but if all it encourages is a flood of cheap imports of dubious quality and non-existent after-sales support, the answer will be no. If we get serious brands like Amflow reaching our shores, that got to be a good thing for riders, if not the wider bike industry. It may even motivate the likes of Amflow to move its manufacturing base to mainland China, rather than using Taiwan. In the short term, we don’t see it making much of a difference to UK mountain bikers.