Bike industry on hold as uncertainty around Trump’s controversial tariffs continues

Now months into the uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the bike industry is still facing challenges adapting to the controversial economic policy, a struggle which appears to still have a way to go.

Trump last week 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 tariffs on bikes and components may rise slightly to be in line with the now-established rated.

A spokesperson for lobby group PeopleForBikes told industry website BikeEurope: “While these developments are not great for the bicycle industry, they are far less severe than the sweeping additional tariffs proposed in April.”

As the uncertainty continues, brands are left to plot their course through the ongoing market, German tyre company Schwalbe explaining it had moved product to North American warehouses ahead of the tariffs hitting but 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.

Last month, PeopleForBikes warned the US bike industry may not recover from the “devastating consequences” of Donald Trump’s 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 said 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.

Trump’s economic policy remains a source of frustration for many across the bike industry, with the situation unpredictable. In June, Lauf Cycles became the latest bike brand to add a Trump surcharge due to “extraordinary tariffs” on imported components.

In May, reports suggested that BMC is set to slash a quarter of its workforce, the brand blaming tariff uncertainty for having influenced the decision. Likewise, high-end bike component brand Rotor recently closed its US office.

The impact of Trump’s tariffs on business has been the big talking point in the bike industry this year, numerous brands such as Trek, Specialized and Giant raising prices in the US as a result.

> Giant “inevitably forced to reflect cost” of Trump tariffs, as manufacturers warn US bike prices could rise by 50% amid “existential threat” to cycling industry

In April, Brompton boss Butler-Adams called the tariffs “naive”, with the folding bike brand’s US prices also likely to rise.

Silca sold out of its new electric pumps almost instantly, the brand blaming the “global tariff issues” for the product being “not currently economically viable” in the US, meaning that just 100 would be available to its American market.

Meanwhile, a trade association representing the cycling industry in the United States has also claimed that the tariff trade war could lead to bike helmets becoming less affordable, leaving children “unprotected from potential injury”.