By Charles Pekow — New and increased tariffs will likely cause the price of bicycles and spare parts to rise, but it’s too early to say how much. The Trump Administration continues to announce a series of import taxes that will be ultimately passed on to consumers – if the products they seek are available at all as supply may dwindle.
In February, for instance, President Donald Trump announced increased fees of aluminum imports of between 10 and 25 percent (Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 31 (Tuesday, February 18, 2025) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-02-18/html/2025-02832.htm and 25 percent more on steel (Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 31 (Tuesday, February 18, 2025) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-02-18/html/2025-02833.htm. Additionally, bicycles imported from China will be subject to an additional 10 percent tariff. This will affect about 87 percent of bicycles imported to the USA.
The “tariff situation is still developing, and we have some uncertainly about how things will play out,” Heather Mason, president of the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA) wrote in an email to Cycling West. Depending on the level of inventory, wholesale prices for bicycles could go up as early as late March, or three or more months later, she stated.
NBDA sent a memo to members suggesting dealing with the situation by selling used and refurbished bikes. “The highest-grossing product category in bike retail is used bicycles, yielding 50 percent gross margins – yet fewer than 10 percent of shops actively sell them!” NBDA’s correspondence reads.
People for Bikes has been carefully tracking the situation. Matt Moore, its Policy & General Counsel, indicated it also doesn’t know how tariffs will play out “other than that additional tariffs will continue to add to the landed cost of imported bicycles, electric bicycles, components and accessories. How much retail prices increase, and how tariffs affect supply and consumer demand, is unknown at this point.” But Moore warned that not only may prices rise, but the added cost of tariffs will mean manufacturers won’t have as much money to develop new products and obtain inventory. He added in an email “with interest rates staying high…working capital is more expensive than it has been in recent years.”
