Yuba Bicycles, maker of both electric and pedal cargo bicycles, has issued a response to the rounds of anti-dumping tariffs issued on August 10 and September 17, resulting in a 25 percent tariff to be applied to electric bikes and a 10 percent tariff to be applied to pedal bikes manufactured in China. This similarly just occurred in Europe with an anti-dumping against China of 23 percent to 183 percent in a strategic move to incentivize European assembly.
Currently, Yuba manufactures the Electric Boda Boda, Boda Boda and Mundo Classic bikes in China.
To account for the tariffs applied to electric bikes, Yuba will apply a flat fee of $300 to those respective products affected by the tariffs. This $300 fee will be applied to the total cost and passed onto the consumer as a tax. To account for the tariffs applied to pedal bikes, Yuba will apply a flat fee of $100 for those respective products.
By adding these fees as a flat rate to be passed onto the consumer, and not adding the tariffs to the usual margin calculation cost, Yuba hopes this will have the least impact on their overall business and allow for Yuba to continue offering their product at a competitive rate.
The Spicy Curry and new Electric Supermarché are currently manufactured in Taiwan, which is not subject to tariffs. Yuba has been looking to relocate its manufacturing from China to Taiwan since July 18, 2017, when the EU imposed tariffs to electric bikes coming from China. Yuba has been successful in this search and will be able to begin to transition all manufacturing to Taiwan at the end of 2018.
“These tariffs have such a huge impact over businesses and consumers,” said Benjamin Sarrazin, founder of Yuba bikes. “We are talking about tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of businesses’ supply chains, supply chains that were put in place over decade ago. We will strive to do everything we can do ensure our product is the best quality and at the best price during this time.”
In conclusion, Yuba does not support these tariffs for multiple reasons: the tariffs were imposed with great haste and little review and will not encourage bicycle manufacturing to be moved into the U.S., mostly because the administration will now tax on steel, frames and components as well.
There is an already established structure of manufacturing bicycles and their components in a number of Asian countries surrounding China. To rebuild this infrastructure in the U.S. is not realistic and will be costly and lengthy, exacerbated by the additional tax on steel, and an industry that already has low profit margins and stagnant sales currently, many American bike companies will not be able to survive this political tactic.
