Cambodia Is Currently The Largest Importer Of Bicycles in The EU

According to foreign media reports, the Office of the Council of Ministers of Cambodia announced the latest situation of export trade. In the first half of 2022, Cambodia exported bicycle goods worth 505 million US dollars.

"Cambodia is the world's fifth largest bicycle industry exporter and the EU's largest importer," Heng Sokkung, spokesman for the Cambodian secretary of state, told a news conference.

The Southeast Asian country has played a role in filling the void left by falling Chinese exports, which have been hurt by headwinds such as anti-dumping duties. These challenges, combined with rising labor costs and shipping concerns, have sparked waves of investment across the rest of Asia as well as in Europe, dramatically changing the way Europe sources bicycle merchandise, especially e-bikes.

Before 2020, China was the EU's largest exporter, followed by Taiwan. However, this situation has changed since 2020. Cambodia has become the EU’s largest bicycle exporter, accounting for 24% of the EU’s total imports, followed by mainland China with 17% and Taiwan with 11%.

According to the minister, Cambodia has 13 large-scale industrial bicycle producers with a cumulative investment of US$112 million for bicycle production. These investments are said to be accompanied by Chinese investment, maintaining Cambodia's dominance in bicycle industry transactions to a certain extent.

Besides the EU and the UK, other major exporters of Cambodian bicycle goods include the US, Australia and Canada.

With Brexit in mind, the UK has opted for a departure from Europe policy and no longer continues to suspend the EU's preferential regime within the framework of "everything but arms". Cambodia As part of the Least Developed Countries Framework, Cambodia is listed as a country under the UK's Generalized Scheme of Preferences and currently has zero-rated tariffs on all goods except arms and ammunition under the UK's GSP.

For those looking specifically at the UK market, new sales figures collected from retail stores show a slowdown in most industries at the moment. The first half of 2022 saw a decline in both market volume and value, both falling by more than a quarter compared to the same period last year.