Cheap Chinese Carbon - Anti-Dumping tax

daviddk0

New here, signed up because I'm being F'd in the A by Belgian Customs and needed some information.

I ordered a Flyxii FR-322 frameset off of eBay last month (through a Flyxii e-bay seller) and today it was finally offered at my doorstep. I was over the moon, super enthousiast and excited, until the postman casually said I had to pay 341 EUR before I could receive it.

I admit, when I placed the order 30 days ago, I didn't do any research on how much the tax/vat would be.. But I knew there surely would be a charge to pay, and was estimating it to be somewhere near 20-30% added.
But never in my WILDEST nightmares would I have expected such a WHOPPING amount. The total price I paid for the parcel inc shipping was 360 EUR. So that is over 90 % of VAT and taxes.

So a few days ago, because customs was only taking 3 weeks to calculate this amount, I got curious about the taxes and started doing some research. Pretty soon I was searching through the TARIC table. Which for Belgium looks like it came straight from the 90ies: http://tarweb.minfin.fgov.be/itarbel_ext/FormNomenclatuur?LG=NL&BL=B&IE=0&TC=&AC=&PA=&DA=&TX=&CO=

I stumbled upon categories:
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/8714911021
8714 91 10 21 -> From china and less than 300 units/month -> NO ANTI-DUMPING APPLIED
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/8714911031
8714 91 10 31 -> Others - ANTI-DUMPING applied

Since my shipment came from China and is only 1 unit with no intention of reselling for profit or anything I assumed it to be in the 8714 91 10 21 category and was relieved I wouldn't have to pay an anti-dumping fee... Which apparently was wrong of me to assume.

I'm not sure what to do now, my parcel had been taken back to the local post office where it will stay for a few weeks should I decide to cough up the moneys. B-Post themselves can do nothing about it, so complaining to them won't help. Customs Clearance can only be reached by e-mail, so I already mailed asking for some explanation.. But after waiting for a month, my patience is running out and they take ages to reply.

Anyone care to share any experiences? Are Anti-Dumping taxes applicable to ALL chinese bike components? I know some believe it's only on complete/assembeled bikes. Do I only need to pay anti-dumping if I ordere more than 300 units? Is their calculation correct and on what grounds do I have to pay the anti-dumping tax?

Heavy first post, sorry, but thanks in advance!

adamfo

The EU is a single market. I don't think you should be paying anything other than the Belgium rate of VAT and clearance fee. EU import duties, when added, including punitive import tariffs, have never amounted much for me. Typically under 6%.

Camcycle1974

I bought a £400 wheelset from China. Import duties were £32 so less than 10%. Sounds like they are taking the Pi**.

rolf_f

Of course, a lot of stuff from China gets marked as a sample to try to justify dishonestly low valuations for customs fee evasion purposes. Maybe this is one and customs have decided that anything that is a sample comes under the remit of the anti dumping regs. It makes logical sense and if I was customs I think I'd take that line!

Still, it should be possible to resolve this - don't think anyone else on here has been hit by anything like this.

daviddk0

Yeah after reading around on UK and Dutch forums I've only seen a couple of other belgians complain about this anti-dumping on bike parts fromt China. Never have I seen a UK or Dutch guy that had to pay such heavy anti-dumping fee.

I thought the rules were the same for the entire EU. Belgian customs clearance seems pretty corrupt then.
Of course, there's no way to get a hold of them, or to clear my parcel for a 'normal' fee. :x

blablablacksheep

i had to pay 20% tax on a watch i ordered, which was annoying rom china, and then ive ordered other items and havent been charged.

Its all down to how the chinese or shanghai person labels it, if they say its a "gift" then it doesn't usually get taxed if on other hand its a "luxury" then it will .

remember you pay vat at 20% on all items marked luxury, as well as other import duties, so in theory can end up paying between 30-40% tax!

darkhairedlord

blablablacksheep wrote:

i had to pay 20% tax on a watch i ordered, which was annoying rom china, and then ive ordered other items and havent been charged.

Its all down to how the chinese or shanghai person labels it, if they say its a "gift" then it doesn't usually get taxed if on other hand its a "luxury" then it will .

remember you pay vat at 20% on all items marked luxury, as well as other import duties, so in theory can end up paying between 30-40% tax!

but if it's marked as gift, when it isn't, that's fraud and you are a tax-evading scoundrel just like those naughty boys on the telly.
I hope you can bring yourself to fess-up at the local HMRC office.

mambo1

In Spain customs have started adding an automatic 200 euro charge to frames imported by individuals from China to protect the Spanish bike industry

daviddk0

Yes, the same Spanish bike industry which orderes it's bike straight from the same manufacturers in China and then charges triple for it. There's a list of business which have an exemption, so they applied to the EU comission to not have to pay this anti-dumping fee.

Big players like Norta, Oxford, Eddy Merckx and so on are on it. So they can import as much Chinese stuff as they want, but if one consumer finds it's way to the source he should be punished?

It seems the anti-dumping on bikes is a rule to make rich europeans richer.

adamfo

Each item has a specific international commodity code. You can look the number up on the web. Items coming into a customs union like the EU single market should be charged the same regardless of the destination country.

on-yer-bike

Why is it called Anti-dumping tax?

cattytown

I make the Taric code 8714911021 which carries 4.7% Duty. Comments are based on the UK and my experience.

The start price is the price/value of the item INCLUDING POSTAGE. Item costs £100, £50 postage, the total is £150. Add duty to that total. Then Add VAT on top of that. Then add any charges from the carrier for handling customs clearance. It can very quickly mount up.

When importing anything I try to take a look at TARIC codes in case there are options.

Paul.

BillyMansell

on-yer-bike wrote:

Why is it called Anti-dumping tax?

The notion is it's to prevent the dumping of goods on EC markets at less than the market price in their home market. A cynic might say it's less anti-dumping and more anti-competition.

Strangely, I don't see Thai prawns on the taxable list despite being produced at less than market value through human rights abuses by the slave trade.

Geo555

It looks like you are being charged the Anti Dumping Tax on a complete bicycle. As you have only purchased a frame, you should only be paying 4.7% duty + 21% VAT

I did a couple of calculation on this site - http://www.dutycalculator.com/ to see the difference.

Bike has a duty rate of 15% and an Anti Dumping Duty rate of 48.5% because it was manufactured in China and has a VAT rate of 21%

I may have been declared on the customs form that it was a bicycle and not just a frame. You will have to argue, if you can get hold of them, that it is a frame and the lower rate of duty is due.