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news
2024 Giant TCR Advanced Pro 1 105 Di2 - downtube.jpg (credit: road.cc)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
While Donald Trump may have blinked first in his global trade war, triggering a 90-day pause on his threatened higher tariff rates for most countries amid chaos in the markets, one of the biggest suppliers of bicycles to the United States, Giant, has said that the US president’s attempt at reordering the economic order is “absolutely not positive” for the cycling industry.
The Taiwanese brand, which last month revealed that its profits had been slashed by 62 per cent in 2024 as heavy discounting and inventory challenges hit the company, has also warned that if the high tariffs previously threatened by the Trump administration return, Giant “will inevitably be forced to reflect the cost”.
On Wednesday, the US government announced that the heavy tariffs imposed last week on a range of countries, including most of the big bike manufacturing nations in Asia, such as Taiwan, Cambodia, and Vietnam, will be suspended for 90 days, with a “lowered reciprocal” rate of 10 per cent on all products entering the United States authorised instead.
2024 Giant Team Jayco Alula (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)That news will come as a welcome, albeit brief and inconclusive, reprieve for Tiawan-based Giant, one of the biggest bike manufacturers in the world but one which has struggled in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.
Last year, Giant’s post-tax profit plummeted to NT$1.26bn (£29.4m), a drop of 62.8 per cent compared with 2023.
This was led, the brand said, by “reduction in demand” in the US and European markets, as well as the impact of “more aggressive discount” and inventory issues. In fact, Giant stated it had an inventory loss provision of NT$1.9bn (£44.4m) in 2024 which cut its gross margin three per cent on 2023 levels.
However, while the United States’ so-called reciprocal tariffs on most of cycling’s Asian manufacturing hubs return to 10 per cent (for now), at the same time Trump announced that tariffs on goods from China – which supplies 87 per cent of bikes in the US – would be increased to 125 per cent, after Trump accused Beijing of a “lack of respect” for imposing a retaliatory 84 per cent tariff on US imports.
That decision has prompted one major US bike manufacturer to warn, as companies and consumers struggle to ascertain the extent to which the industry will be hit by the current economic turmoil, that the price of bikes in the United States could rise by as much as 50 per cent thanks to the tariffs.
Arnold Kamler, the chair of New Jersey-based Kent International, told the Financial Times on Thursday that his company has already increased their prices by 12 per cent this year, thanks to Trump’s initial 20 per cent tariff on China.
Kent Torpedo (credit: road.cc)Kalmer said he expects prices to rise by another 25 per cent thanks to last week’s increased tariffs, with another surge set to come as a result of yesterday’s announcement.
According to a 2021 study, 87 per cent of all bikes in the United States comes from China, making it “one of the most import-dependent and China-dependent industries” in the country. Fewer than 500,000 bikes out of 10 million are even assembled in the US, with virtually none manufactured there.
Kent International expects to sell 1.4 million bikes in the US this year, projected to be its worst performance in over a decade, as Kamler admits Trump’s tariffs on China “would render my bikes undesirable and too expensive”.
“Our sales have been steadily dropping because of our prices being so high now,” he said. “There has been no consideration to us despite the hundreds of jobs we have created so far.”
While Trump maintains that his trade war is partly an attempt to revitalise US manufacturing, Kamler said that despite repatriating some assembly from Asia to the US over a decade ago, prices will still need to rise as they import most of their components from China.
“We’re in quite a quandary now. We’ve established a factory, and we’re paying these very high tariffs, too,” he said.
“If nothing changes, the only thing that’s going to happen is that bicycle prices will be up 30 to 50 per cent.”
Meanwhile, industry lobby group PeopleForBikes’ Matt Moore also warned that higher import costs as a result of the tariffs could force many companies either into insolvency or into mergers with rivals.
“The mood in the industry is fairly grim because we are facing a potentially existential threat,” Moore told the Financial Times.
“Companies with better access to capital and operational advantages will raise prices to cover costs and preserve margins. Companies that cannot do that may succumb to this new trade environment.”
PeopleForBikes says it is currently lobbying for relief on duty for frame and component imports, as well as low-interest loans for manufacturers to build factories in the US.
It joins the National Bicycle Dealers Association, a group representing cycling retailers, which as we reported yesterday is exploring the possibility of lobbying politicians for the first time in decades, with the aim of convincing them to oppose the tariffs or at least explore some alternatives for the industry.
Speaking to Heatmap this week prior to the changes announced yesterday, Jay Townley, a founding partner of the cycling industry consulting firm Human Powered Solutions, said “we’re out of business because nobody can afford to bring in a bicycle product at 100 per cent or more in tariffs”.
“We do not know how to make a bike,” Townley said. “When it comes to manufacturing, all of that knowledge resides in Taiwan, China, Vietnam. It isn’t here.”
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
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Heard Island Government announces 800% retaliatory tariffs
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Heard Island Government announces 800% tariff increase on all goods from the United States. Announcement was sent to US Commerce, Trade Director Redmon. Our PR team is currently sitting on eggs, so if any of you could tag news outlets or journalist friends, please do.
#FlippersUp
There are obvious flaws to raising tariffs to encourage domestic manufacturing. It can take decades to build up, say, a domestic cycle industry. And then the cycles will be more expensive because wages in the US are higher than in Vietnam and decades of investment in building up the industry will have to be paid for by the consumer. But then what happens when the domestic market is saturated and the business needs to grow? It has to export - so it will need to build a supply chain and factories / distribution centres in other countries. And hope that other countries have not imposed reciprocal tariffs.
I couldn't care less what happens to the US consumer through tariffs on 'discretionary spend' items such as Giant bikes and iPhones.
What worries me is that the global manufacturers will try to normalise pricing around the globe in the usual USD = GBP = EUR and try to offset their additional costs globally.
Having travelled to the US half a dozen times in the past year, the rise in costs is gobsmacking. The US based salaried professionals have seen great rises in income over the past few years ( when I compare uk salaries to us salaries, the dollar value is double ours yet the exchange rate is nothing like that). They have tremendous buying power and ability to absorb cost rises that Europeans and UK workers simply do not.
I appreciate the above only refers to 'white collar' professions and the gulf between them and those on the breadline has never been more pronounced. However I suspect it's only the former that will be affected by a rise in a new Giant bike retail price.
OMG- that's so self centred....what about the brotherhood and sisterhood of enjoying a ride and sharing a happy wave with a fellow rider out enjoying their day too ? just a cheap merchant of animosity....share the joy when you can
Have no fear Laz. Pop over there and One can still share a happy wave with a Maga aero helmet wearer. Then bask in the bittersweet knowledge that they're paid twice what you are, and the increase in bike prices have been but chlorinated water off a ducks back.
The US voted for Trump despite knowing what kind of person he is. I've got no sympathy for them as they seem to have welcomed a government based on hate, bullying and racism.
Just a slight correction, 77 million US voters voted for Trump, 75 million for Kamala. If we assume that those who didn't vote for whatever reason were split much along the same lines, nearly half of the American population certainly didn't welcome his government. All of my American friends are kind, generous and very liberal (in the political sense) people who are just as horrified at what the mango Mussolini is up to as we are and deserve our sympathy. There are a hell of a lot of innocent bystanders in this shitshow.
Whilst I agree that there's plenty of kind, generous americans (I'm not a fan of using the word "liberal" as it seems to mean different things to people), they seem to be standing by and allowing their country be destroyed. They're complicit in allowing people to be "deported" to the very worst El Salvadorian prison without any due process.
To be honest, I don't understand why the US people haven't destroyed the capital in protest at the lawlessness and despicable behaviour of their president and his sycophants. They have the right to bear arms for pretty much this exact scenario.
There have been plenty of protests against Trump and deportation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_protests_against_mass_d...
and many human and civil rights organisations are working tirelessly to try to block his machinations, over here we tend only to hear about the disgusting things he's doing and less about the numerous legal knockdowns he's received as a result of people not standing by and allowing their country to be destroyed.
The American people don't have the right to bear arms to overthrow a democratically elected president, however despicable he is – and even if they tried he would absolutely welcome it, any opportunity to declare an emergency and activate more extreme emergency powers would be grist to his mill.
I think they've gone past the point that simple protests will be effective. As I understand it, the emergency powers will be invoked on April 20th, so it's kind of a bit late for thinking that because Trump was democratically (of the U.S. type of democracy) elected that he should be allowed to ignore laws and wield absolute power over the U.S.
Incidentally, that may be the last "democratic" election they'll have in a while as the controls that protect democracy are being dismantled: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/09/politics/election-security-systems-trump-invs/index.html
I think it's ironic that the USA was born from a revolution largely sparked by Britain imposing tariffs on them.
Don't worry they will all be subject to rendition
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the government can expel legal residents from the country based on “past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful.”
ICE is stopping illegal ideas
they are all &%^$£ing deranged
They've already begun with the unlawful deportation/jailing/killing of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-administration-asks-scotus-block-order-return-man-mistakenly-dep-rcna199979
He had a wife and small child (both citizens) and had been living in the U.S. since 2011. They sent him to an El Salvadorian prison despite him never being convicted or charged with any crime. He actually had a specific judge's order preventing him from being sent back to El Salvador as he had testified against the Barrio 18 gang and being sent there would likely lead to them killing him. Of course, he's now been sent to a notorious El Salvador prison that has a large population of Barrio 18 members and is almost certainly now dead.
Well, fingers crossed that he isn't yet dead because yesterday the Supreme Court ordered that he should be returned to the USA.
I share that hope too. I think it's slightly more complicated as the lower courts ordered that he had to be returned and now the Supreme Court have kind of agreed with the defense that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over El Salvador and so cannot order him returned, but the officials have to "facilitate" his return.
The courts did determine that there was absolutely no legal reason for him being "deported". Personally, I think it's more of a kidnapping than a deportation.
And authoritarianism and white, male nationalism.
I'd say "people vote for charismatic powerful leaders they think will stick up for them". Given that probably nobody getting to the top is a saint - and even if they were they'll have to deal with all the other non- saintly leaders I imagine there's quite a lot of attraction for "pick the biggest and hope they're mostly micturating outside our tent".
The latter may be where it goes wrong of course.
I think - like most places - the real problem for Americans is other Americans who've overtaken them. Particularly acute perhaps in a country initially built on basically genocidal conquest, often by (persecuted) religious "extremists", then in places holding down a slave caste, and latterly a "winner-takes all" land of opportunity for (generally) poor immigrants.
People in the US - by and large - work longer hours than the UK - and are often used to far less "help" from the state (except perhaps visits from the police armed with lethal weaponry...) I wonder if that explains some of their ire when looking at Europe in particular?
(Of course there's the historic facts of them also doing very well out of some of their "support for Europe" in the last century but this is a long ramble now).
I find it difficult to believe that people actually believe that Trump will "stick up for them" when he's already demonstrated his narcissism and will only work for his and his families profit. I'd say that the Trump voters are more motivated by his nasty retaliatory side - they don't mind suffering as long as their "enemies" are suffering more. It's simply politics based on narrow-minded hatred.
I think for a long time he's been a role model - in the US financial success is seen as very important and (for better or worse) who you are and how you got there is less so. He's certainly extremely keen on fealty although as demonstrated by the likes of Vance he'll forgive those who called him rude things previously if they grovel and keep the faith thereafter.
You may have a point on the last. Perhaps a reflection of the importance of biblical ideas in US culture? Regardless of degree of faith I'd say the bible (or things derived from it) is more significant over there than e.g. in the UK. (Plenty of artists testify to that ...) And perhaps more the Old Testament flavour also? There we find notions like that in Psalm 24: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."
Of course this notion wasn't limited to the middle east - I think some Scottish castles / clan seats were built with the dungeon under or adjacent to the main hall, so the captives could smell and hear everyone else having a good time (and perhaps those celebrating could troll those shackled in the darkness...)
I have my doubts about his business acumen as he somehow managed to bankrupt casinos. It would seem that rather than being astute in business, he's more astute in cheating people such as not paying his bills and his recent insider trading profits made from his tariff anouncements. Also, he's fairly astute in getting him and his failing businesses bailed out by his dad or by the Russians. (https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/trump-was-bailed-out-by-russian-cash-fxpb5wh5p)
Your last paragraph reminds me of something in the new Daredevil Born Again series which I can recommend.
The religuous aspect is often a complete distortion of the bible. If you send $1000 to Paula White (trump's 'spritual' advisor) you get all sorts of blessings.
Based on a misreading, misunderstanding and misapplication of Exodus 23 and a complete disregard for the first 9 verses which end with:
"Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt."
Turns out that even when god was apparently being rather specific people can find all kinds of meanings...
I rather like Tom Waits' view of the state of affairs in this ditty - "Don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk "
The USA has benefitted handsomely from globalisation but failed miserably to distribute the benefits to all. Trump and others now thrive off the understandable resentment of the have-nots.
Hopefully, non-US companies can step in to fill the gap and undercut those based in the US.
As regards the US salaries, you should bear in mind that they hardly get any holiday (5 days?) and their healthcare costs can be crippling.
Totally. A lot of otherwise smart Americans, and not just those who lean to the right, are utterly convinced their standard of living must be better because they have higher salaries, and US GDP is high. They've been brainwashed into thinking those are the only metrics that count. Some also think number of guns/cars per capita is a surrogate for 'freedom'.
It's very easy to scoff from afar, but the people who voted for Trump have consumed different media from us in whatever time they have inbetween long shifts they can't refuse because of medical debt.
It's not just that they watched Fox News in the run up to the election, they've watched it or a version of it for their whole lives, as has everyone else they interact with. People in the UK love to moan about the 'mainstream media' and especially the BBC. And while they get things wrong, most complaints boild down to people in the huff because the evening news wasn't curated to exactly match that person's pre-existing idea of they want everyone else to know.
Meanwhile, the US abolished the requirement for any attempt at balance. The reasoning being that people can switch channels, so even if Fox News is an unashamed cheerleader for the Republicans, people have the choice of a different news outlet, so they can watch that if they want a different point of view.
There are lots of great things about America, and lots of great Americans, but I gave up on thinking it could improve after they decided that the right to conveniently kill large numbers of primary school children was a core value.
Unfortunately, what happens there has an impact on the rest of us. Not just in terms of trade wars, but the rather obvious push by the Trump administration to roll back anything that would allow Americans, or any of the rest of us, to become less reliant on oil and gas. That's not just bad for those of us who would like a fairly priced alternative to driving, it's amping up the rate at which we are destroying the habitats we all rely on to live healthy lives.