From today, Chinese goods imported into North America will be subjected to a 25% tariff, rising from 10%.

Despite hopes that delays to the tariffs indicated a easing of trade tensions, the move marks an escalation of a ‘trade war’ between the nations, leaving US importers with the bill for the tax rise.

The move is highly significant for the US and Chinese cycling industries – 94% of US bike imports come from China, according to US Census data (via Reuters).

US bike industry groups, including PeopleForBike and the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association, have lobbied against the rises since they were proposed last year.

Some US-based importers, like Rad Power Bikes, have promised to absorb the tariffs to avoid added costs for the customers. Others, like Uber, moved to bolster their cycle stocks before the tariffs came into play.

The US is not alone in enforcing tariffs on China’s cycle exports – the EU recently stamped anti-dumping duties on China’s e-bikes earlier this year. CIN quizzed both LEVA-EU and EBMA to hear both the case for and against the tariffs.

According to the organisers of China Cycle, which ran in Shanghai this week, the industry has been generally stable despite trade friction with the US, EU and other global factors, like falling yields in the bike share market. In April, China implemented a new national standard for e-bikes, while 2018 saw electric bike manufacturers grow 8.2% (accumulated year-on-year) to 75.88 billion yuan, with an overall profit of 3.37 billion yuan. E-bikes now represent over 60% of China’s cycle industrial income.