The number of bikes imported to the United States in the first half of 2025 dropped by 25 per cent to just over four million, with the second quarter of the year witnessing a 35 per cent fall as uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s controversial tariff policy gripped the cycling industry.
According to figures provided by the US International Trade Commission (ITC), and reported by Bike Europe, the US president’s decision to impose additional taxes on imports on a wide range of nations had a particularly devastating impact on China, traditionally the largest supplier of bikes to the United States.
In June, China supplied just over 190,000 units to the United States, a massive 74 per cent drop compared to the same month in 2024, when 740,000 units reached the US. Chinese bike imports in the second quarter of 2025 also dropped by 55 per cent compared to the previous year.
That means that, having supplied around 9.5 million units in total to the United States in 2024, only 2.7 million units made it from China to the US during the first half of 2025.
However, while still lagging way behind their figures for 2024, July saw a 128 per cent jump in imports compared to its extremely sluggish June numbers, a surge that was likely the result of a concerted attempt to get ahead of the huge new tariff that was expected to take effect at the start of August, but which was ultimately delayed at the last minute by the Trump administration.
Last month, the US president signed a new executive order to extend the pause on tariffs on Chinese goods, an extra 90 days now cited for negotiations between the two countries to hopefully avoid a return to the 145 per cent rate seen earlier in the year.
In the interim the tariff will be 30 per cent until the start of November, while China’s reciprocal tariff on US goods will stay at 10 per cent. Meanwhile, the set 15 per cent rate on imports from Japan and the EU means that tariffs on bikes and components may rise slightly to be in line with the now-established rate.
Nevertheless, the threat of a triple-digit tariff saw China surpassed by Cambodia as the United States’ biggest source for bikes by value, with China’s July imports valued at $17.7 million (£13.1m), compared to Cambodia’s $32.6 million (£32.6m).
However, as Cambodia produces more high-end bikes, China – traditionally responsible for 90 per cent of all bike imports to the US – still leads the way when it comes to overall numbers, though Cambodia’s 160,000 units imported in June shows this gap is closing.
According to the latest figures, Cambodia has imported 700,000 units to the US in the first half of 2025, having supplied 920,000 units in total last year, an 80 per cent year-on-year increase.
Meanwhile, Taiwan solidified its position as the primary high-end supplier of bikes to the US, exporting about 200,000 units in the first half of the year.
The import value coming from China also dropped by 42 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
“A sales free fall”
Speaking to the road.cc Podcast last week, Rio Banyubiru, the marketing manager at Chinese bike brand Yoeleo, said the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariffs, and the impact they were having on the consumer, had contributed to a sales “free fall”.
“The tariffs are affecting us a lot, but mostly because of the uncertainty the policy is causing,” he told road.cc.
“Maybe the tariff itself is manageable, because we still have the margin to work with. But the problem is more from the customer or consumer perspective towards the tariff. Because some people are afraid that they’ll have to pay more – the highest point was 145 per cent, more than doubling the price.
“And during this adjustment period, our sales were dropping a lot. It was like a free fall for us. A lot of people were asking us how the tariff would affect them, and others wouldn’t even come, of course. And it’s not only affecting us, it’s affecting the whole region.
“Now, we’re addressing this with our partner in the US, so people shouldn’t worry about the tariff because the product itself is in the US.”
As the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs continues, brands are left to plot their course through the ongoing market turmoil. Last month, German tyre company Schwalbe explained that it had moved product to North American warehouses ahead of the tariffs hitting, while admitting that any long-term plans are now on hold.
“For now, we must wait until all tariffs are finalised, allowing us to properly assess their effect on our competitiveness and determine the right strategic response,” chief sales officer Nico Simons said.
Likewise, other bike and component brands are waiting for more clarity before committing to anything long-term.
In July, PeopleForBikes warned the US bike industry may not recover from the “devastating consequences” of the controversial tariffs until 2030.
“Many of our CEOs say in their many decades of experience, they’ve never experienced a time like today,” chief executive Jenn Dice said.
Canyon’s chief executive Nicolas de Ros Wallace also noted that demand in the US was “slowing down” and that the company had reviewed its growth plans as a result, with some product meant to be shipped to the US now diverted to other regions.
At the end of August, German electric bike brand Riese & Müller announced that it had halted shipping to the United States due to import rules placing a 50 per cent tariff on steel, one of the materials used in the brand’s e-bikes.
Over the summer, the European Union reached a deal on a 15 per cent tariff on exports with the US, avoiding a 30 per cent rate but leaving many businesses frustrated.
According to the latest figures, Italy and the UK remain the top European suppliers of bikes to the US, with the UK shipping 14,000 units in the first half of 2025, up 45 per cent from 2024. Meanwhile, Italy shipped 8,000 units in 2025, down 260 per cent from the 29,000 they exported in the first half of 2024.
