In the ongoing trade battles between the United States and China, President Trump set tariffs set to begin January 1st of 2021 on a variety of goods coming to the United States and one of them are electric bikes.
The tariff is pretty hefty at 25% which means electric bike prices will likely be increasing soon. It’s not known whether the Biden administration will eliminate or reduce the tariff, so if you’re looking at buying an electric bike this year, you might want to move fast.
Most electric bikes are manufactured in China, including many of the most popular brands.
On one hand it seems a bit unfair to pass the costs on the American buyers, but on the other hand if it helps American companies compete against cheap labor overseas it’s hard to be against it.
As someone who grew up and still lives in a “Rust Belt” blue collar town ravaged by job outsourcing to China, I want to do what I can to support American jobs.
There are a few small bike companies like Electric Bike Company from California, and a new one I just discovered, Boogie Bikes from Wisconsin that build their bikes here from global and domestic components.
It’s impossible to build an electric bike from exclusively American made components because they’re simply not made here, and haven’t been for many years.
However, I’ll be reviewing bikes from both companies this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they have to offer.
While I don’t want to pay more for an electric bike, and who does, Americans are already paying a big price for job losses that have occurred over the past few decades. We just don’t always realize how huge that price has been.
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