Radon pulling out of UK market?

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Letford

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Jul 21, 2019
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Basford
My friend ordered a Radon render from their website about 4 weeks ago, and recieved an email today saying that the sales been cancelled and he shouldn't of been able to order it online. They've also stated that due to shipping reasons and Brexit that they won't be sending anything to the UK ?
 

Letford

Member
Jul 21, 2019
90
72
Basford
When you click on the Radon ebikes it’s shown in Red capital letters that bikes aren’t shipping to the UK ?

My mates gutted he’s saved up to buy one outright and their website let him order it and now he’s had a cancellation email from then, pretty shitty thought they would’ve honoured the sale.

5914E26D-5F4D-46B9-8E4D-57A4F448AF6F.jpeg
 
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KeithR

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2020
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Blyth, Northumberland
article on tariffs for bikes - it looks like e-bikes will be subject to a 6% tariff
That's an old article, Steve - I suspect that between some and all of that will have changed since early 2019.

A more recent (Oct 2020) article has this to say:
[Peter Eland of the Bicycle Association] told CI.N on Friday afternoon that if No Deal comes to pass then the default Global Tariff rates will come in to play at 14% for bikes, 6% for e-bikes and 4% for most parts.
Welcome to the sunlit uplands. Possibly no change for ebikes, but a royal rogering for bikes.

And we'll all be paying more for parts.

Which will be harder to get.

And therefore more expensive again.
 
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steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
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You must be talking about WTO terms (World Trade Organisation). Most countries in the world use WTO and they are a two-way thing. The same tariffs apply to all countries, whether it's an export or an import. Unless they agree otherwise of course.

This may lead to a UK bike industry! Electric Brompton anyone? :)
 

KeithR

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2020
679
611
Blyth, Northumberland
You must be talking about WTO terms (World Trade Organisation). Most countries in the world use WTO and they are a two-way thing. The same tariffs apply to all countries, whether it's an export or an import. Unless they agree otherwise of course.

This may lead to a UK bike industry! Electric Brompton anyone? :)
They're talking about WTO rules, Steve - I'm just passing the message on..!

;)

Regardless of the 2-way nature of WTO tariffs, it doesn't help us - our bikes, ebikes and bits will cost more, post no-deal Brexit.

And that's not figuring the additional demand-driven costs caused by the colossal customs bottleneck feck-ups that will happen at the borders - not only do the necessary systems and infrastructure needed to facilitate slick imports/exports not exist, but a lot of companies that do this stuff (on both sides of the channel) have made it completely clear that they're out.

So there will be far less logistical capacity just to move the stuff around, too.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
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WTO terms merely involve treating all trading partners equally unless there is a specific trade agreement with any of those partners. The UK can set its import tariffs as zero if it wants, as long as it is zero for any other trading partner. The UK trades under WTO rules for over 60% of its exports but that will reduce significantly once the transition period finishes and we can begin to trade with other countries on the basis of mutually agreed terms. 57 of those agreements have been signed so far.
The current trade tariffs for 2021 are on the Gov.UK website and it is 6% on E bikes unless the Govt decides to exempt the category on a temporary or permanent basis. Given the current push on cycling as a means of reducing carbon emissions, that is a possibly until at least the supply market re-adjusts.
As far as exports tariffs are concerned the usual market forces will apply. Products that are expensive in one export market will be replaced by products from a lower cost market. Manufacturers that value the UK market will either adjust margins to achieve a competitive price or distribute product from more suitable locations.
In terms of bikes and probably even more so E Bikes I suspect the Far East will become a more familiar supplier to the UK than European centred brands.
Note.....some bike components and bikes originating from China are currently subject to an EU imposed additional 48.5% import tax. The UK will not be bound by that post Dec 31st 2020.

Whether you buy a bike from a LBS in the UK or direct from an EU country the price will already include import taxes and VAT paid to get a fully assembled bike to either location. Frames are made in China or Taiwan, components also largely manufactured in the Far East all have to be imported. It gets complicated, and easy to see that no one really gains from trade tariffs and the consumer is always the loser. The UK ( and the WTO) believes in tariff free trade, and that is the aim for all trade deals post Dec31st 2020.
Trade with the EU is not "Free". We have to pay significant annual sums for membership.

So where do all our bikes actually come from? In terms of registered HQ, Whyte is UK, Specialized is US, Trek is US, Giant is Taiwan? Canyon is Germany Cube is Germany...................add yours!!
 

KeithR

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2020
679
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Blyth, Northumberland
Trade with the EU is not "Free". We have to pay significant annual sums for membership.
And we get (got) trade worth - literally - orders of magnitude more to the UK than the cost of entry to the "club".

Theory and "what ifs?" are all well and good, but the Oct 2020 article I link to above spells out the expected Real World Impact of No Deal, as seen by a number of industry folk with a large stake in how things play out.

They are not optimistic - and again, that's without the guaranteed-come-what-may customs friction/haulage capacity shitshow.
 
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R120

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Apr 13, 2018
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I fear that this is a sign of things to come, Rose bikes already pulled out of UK for similar reasons. I have also noticed that a lot of newer parts are available in Europe right now, but not in UK - e.g I ordered the new 630wh Shimano external battery months ago, and was told it would be delivered in October, however still none in the UK, but readily available in Europe, but cant find anyone who will send to UK.
 

Jackware

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Oct 30, 2018
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I fear that this is a sign of things to come, Rose bikes already pulled out of UK for similar reasons. I have also noticed that a lot of newer parts are available in Europe right now, but not in UK - e.g I ordered the new 630wh Shimano external battery months ago, and was told it would be delivered in October, however still none in the UK, but readily available in Europe, but cant find anyone who will send to UK.

If the price is right, try this company, I purchased a Yamaha battery from them in October and it was sent via DHL to the UK;

 

KeithR

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2020
679
611
Blyth, Northumberland
I fear that this is a sign of things to come, Rose bikes already pulled out of UK for similar reasons. I have also noticed that a lot of newer parts are available in Europe right now, but not in UK - e.g I ordered the new 630wh Shimano external battery months ago, and was told it would be delivered in October, however still none in the UK, but readily available in Europe, but cant find anyone who will send to UK.
I fear you're right - and this is only the start of the "fun".

DHL has already decided to up its courier charges as as direct result of "the will of the (minority of) people":
DHL’s move is in keeping with the general perception among logistics operators that their operating costs will rise as a result of processing customs clearance for shipments between the EU and the UK once the UK leaves the EU customs union at the end of the transition period.

Also, there are growing fears that there could be major disruption at the port of Dover in the immediate period after Brexit takes effect with long lines of trucks as a result of border controls.
Coincidentally I received this today in an email from the (UK) company I buy isopropyl alcohol from:

DHL.jpg


OK, on the face of it a limited service outage, but not "due to Christmas"; not "due to Covid" but unequivocally due to that other thing...

And I imagine the same will apply over the water.

Ah well. I've already got my tee-shirt printed.

On the front it says: "Don't blame me - I didn't vote for it..." and on the back it says "See? I f***ing told you this would happen..!"

:cool:
 

STATO

Active member
Feb 18, 2020
195
123
North
There was an article on trade issues recently, specifically anti-dumping tarrifs. These were to be scrapped but will now not. Not sure if other tarrifs will be but im not in the business so dont follow all the ins and outs. What was mentioned was dropping a US bike tarrif, which could be interesting.


Brexit has always been able to offer opportunities, however (its seems to me) these are usually through access to totally different products to what we are used to.

The opening of new doors means closing (or impeeding) access to existing brands/stores/contracts we have come to know and trust from europe. What this means for stores is yet to be seen, perhaps they will be able to switch brands to avoid issues, hopefully they will keep their trusted brands and switch from EU importers to ship direct from place of manufacturer?

But it could be that access to bikes people want (Radon) is restricted, but access to other brands opens. We might all come to find direct sales brands from Taiwan become popular, but i think the majority of buying public will take time to build trust of new brands.
 

R120

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Apr 13, 2018
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I think the majority of the buying public will be pissed off they cant buy something they could before, and if they can it will cost more.

I work in construction, and everything is more expensive or not available, with no visibility on pricing, lead time or availability. We have EU qualified Architechts, engineers etc who have no idea come January first if they will still have recognised qualifications in the UK and able to carry on working. We have insurance companies refusing to provide cover on big jobs and they cant quantify the risks to programme and supply, and we have zero visibility on realistic costs to contract, as everything now has to have a Brexit clause in it which makes any agreed pricing up for renegotiation.

I am not for or anti Brexit, what I am for is competency in those executing it, and what we have right now is a an absolute disaster irrelevant of your political views, because the muppets running the country are so far out of their depth in terms of any sort of semblance to the real world impact of what they are negotiating because none of them have ever worked in any of the industries whose futures they are deciding.
 

Waynemarlow

E*POWAH Master
Dec 6, 2019
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Guys, Brexit is at least a 10 year project, you can't just unwind 40 years of history without looking at the longterm. Sure there's going to be change, some pain and some losers in the short term. But before you all jump on your high horses on the 1st Jan and complain that things are different and not the same, at least give some of the excellent and unknown brands in the UK, but household names in other parts of the world, a chance to develop into being household names in the UK. Possibly / probably they will be cheaper in the long run than the present. One only has to look at the wide variance of prices around the world of the same item to understand this. The downside is that with tariffs in the short term they maybe dearer, but with an upside you will be helping to pay for our Covid bar bill.

One thing for sure though on 1st Jan there's going to be a lot of the media all going told you so and yet with all the political shenagins of our political elites that have happened, Brexit is going to happen at last. Maybe we can all get on with our lives and go cycling.
 

Darren

Active member
Sep 25, 2019
191
246
Warwick
"What did the Romans ever do for us?"

“All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?”

“Brought peace.”

“Oh. Peace? Shut up!”
 

Jackware

Fat-tyred Freakazoid
Subscriber
Oct 30, 2018
2,086
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Lancashire
Guys, Brexit is at least a 10 year project, you can't just unwind 40 years of history without looking at the longterm. Sure there's going to be change, some pain and some losers in the short term. But before you all jump on your high horses on the 1st Jan and complain that things are different and not the same, at least give some of the excellent and unknown brands in the UK, but household names in other parts of the world, a chance to develop into being household names in the UK. Possibly / probably they will be cheaper in the long run than the present. One only has to look at the wide variance of prices around the world of the same item to understand this. The downside is that with tariffs in the short term they maybe dearer, but with an upside you will be helping to pay for our Covid bar bill.

One thing for sure though on 1st Jan there's going to be a lot of the media all going told you so and yet with all the political shenagins of our political elites that have happened, Brexit is going to happen at last. Maybe we can all get on with our lives and go cycling.

Different isn't a problem, life being worse will be for a lot of people, those losers you casually dismiss. But hey as long as it's only 10 years instead of the 50 years that Rees Mogg predicted I guess those losers should just stop moaning.
 
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