Despite concern from the E.U. that Cambodia is being used by Chinese bicycle makers to avoid an anti-dumping duty, the bike industry has maintained strong export growth to Europe, according to the latest data from the European Commission (E.C.).
Cambodia exported about 1 million bicycles to the E.U. in the first eight months of 2015, a 16 percent increase on the previous year, maintaining its place as the second-largest exporter to the bloc behind Taiwan.
In May last year, the E.C. imposed a 48.5 percent anti-dumping duty on Cambodian bicycle imports with ties to China.
However, the three largest Cambodian bike makers, A&J, Smart Tech and Speedtech Industrial, are exempted from the duty, according to a report from Bike-EU.com.
The continued expansion of Cambodia’s bicycle manufacturing sector is unsurprising, said Hiroshi Suzuki, chief economist at the Business Research Institute for Cambodia.
“Cambodia is now one of the best destinations for [Foreign Direct Investment], especially for these labor-intensive manufacturing industries,” he said.
