Behind the Tariffs: How bicycles link China and the US
- How the supply chain connecting Shanghai with North Carolina to supply America’s bicycles is under strain from tariffs and the trade war
- The American company and its Chinese partner working to find a way around the tariffs on steel, aluminium and components that are punishing their businesses
Roughly 95 per cent of the bicycles sold in the United States are imported from China, and tariffs on steel and aluminium are combining with tariffs on bicycle components to force companies to make some tough decisions.
Kent International is an American bicycle manufacturer and distributor in the direct line of fire of the trade war. Listen as Kent CEO Arnold Kamler recounts his company’s history of importing bicycles from Taiwan, then Southeast Asia, and eventually mainland China through the latter decades of the 20th century.
Kamler explains how the company found itself hit with a double whammy on tariffs, and being told by US trade officials that his newly-opened multi-million dollar assembly plant in South Carolina doesn’t qualify him as a US manufacturer worth protecting.
We go to Shanghai to meet Kamler’s business partner, Ge Lei, who runs a massive bicycle plant in China’s biggest city, and hear how US tariffs may force him to relocate to Cambodia. Lei also explains how Chinese firms are trying to beat the tariffs.
Featuring:
Arnold Kamler, CEO, Kent International, New Jersey
Ge Lei; general manager, General Sports, Shanghai
Additional reporting by Yang Yang
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