Understanding Bike Tariffs and Their Impact
A firsthand account of how Section 232 tariff expansions on steel and aluminum derivative products are reshaping the bicycle industry. From abandoned business deals to shop floor pricing chaos, the article examines how trade policy is forcing small brands, retailers, and riders to navigate an uncertain future where margins disappear and innovation slows.
I almost bought a mountain bike frame company this summer. Not a big operation, just a boutique brand building steel hardtails and full-suspension frames with smart geometry and a loyal following. The kind of bikes you recognize on the trail but never see on a showroom floor. The numbers worked, barely, and the idea of building something real in this industry felt worth chasing.
Since I’m not a welder, I needed a fabrication partner. Taiwan made the most sense. I ran every number down to the weld: landed price per frame, shipping, duty, margin. Could I make it work? Could I keep the price point sane and still have room to grow?
I thought I could. Then Section 232 re-entered the conversation.
The Commerce Department started expanding steel and aluminum tariffs, not on raw materials this time, but on “derivative products.” Frames, forks, components. The language was vague. The implications weren’t. Those Taiwanese TIG-welded chromoly frames I was looking at could get hit with up to a 50% import tax.
I started asking around. Customs brokers, importers, trade compliance people. Nobody could give me a straight answer on the HTS classification. Some said bikes were safe for now. Others said it was a matter of time. I tried pricing domestic fabrication. That led to a string of half-quotes, soft timelines, and one guy who said he might be able to “do something in the spring.”
The margins disappeared. Not slowly. Gone. The business that made sense on paper turned into a gamble I wasn’t willing to take.
Here’s the thing: I’m not alone.
When Policy Meets Metal
Section 232 sounds like something from a filing cabinet in Washington, but it hits like a two-by-four in the bike world. Originally invoked to protect national security interests, it slapped 25% tariffs on imported steel and 10% on aluminum back in 2018. That alone rattled cages.
But in 2025, the Trump administration started adding “derivative” products to the list. The logic goes like this: if steel is taxed and a company avoids the tariff by importing a steel product instead of raw material, the tariff should follow it downstream. Bikes didn’t appear explicitly on early lists. But components? Frames? Forks? All potentially exposed.
On October 7, 2025, the Commerce Department published 95 new requests for inclusion of derivative products in Section 232 tariffs. Two of those requests specifically target bicycles, frames, and e-bikes. If granted, all bicycles and frames imported into the U.S. from any country would face a 50% tariff on both steel and aluminum content. E-bikes with motors over 250W would get hit with a 50% tariff on aluminum content alone. These would stack on top of existing base tariffs and Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports.
The comment period closes October 21st. After that, it’s out of everyone’s hands but the bureaucrats.
The tariff expansion isn’t just a headline. It’s a cloud hanging over every cost calculation in the industry. For small brands importing steel frames, it means sudden pricing chaos. For larger ones, it means re-evaluating entire supply chains. For someone like me, it meant walking away.
Ground Truth
At the shop level, the tremors are already being felt. You hear it in backroom conversations at demo events. You see it in spreadsheets managers won’t show customers.
“We used to land this commuter bike at $1,099,” one Colorado shop owner told me. “Now, I can’t get it here for less than $1,500. Margins are tighter. Orders are smaller. We’re having to pick winners before customers do.”
A Pennsylvania shop stopped stocking a popular steel touring frame altogether. “We couldn’t justify the price jump. Not when customers expect last year’s MSRP.”
In some places, the impact is subtler. Brands quietly phase out steel models, pushing carbon or aluminum not because it rides better, but because it’s, potentially, tariff-safe. The market shifts without anyone making an announcement.
What Riders See
For riders, the shift is creeping but real. Price hikes don’t always show up as sticker shock. Sometimes it’s a downgrade in spec. Sometimes it’s a delayed shipment. Sometimes it’s a mid-tier build that just doesn’t exist this year.
Steel bikes are taking the hit hardest. They’ve always been the “connoisseur’s” choice, the frame you keep instead of flip. But when a Surly or a Starling starts bumping up against boutique carbon prices, people hesitate. Add in rising component costs and uncertainty about what’s coming next, and the used market starts looking better. Or worse, riders just hold off. One more season. One more year. One more reason to wait.
(This isn’t isolated to bikes, either. Ski and snowboard manufacturers dealing with aluminum components and steel edges face similar pressures. The math changes. The margins shrink. The innovation slows.)
The Response
The industry isn’t standing still. PeopleForBikes is lobbying. The NBDA is raising alarms. Some companies are reclassifying parts, chasing HTS codes like loopholes. Others are eating the cost for now, hoping the political wind shifts before the bottom line collapses.
A few are looking domestic. U.S. framebuilders could see a resurgence, but most don’t have the capacity, and few can match overseas prices. One fabricator told me: “We can do it. But not fast. And not cheap.”
The result is an industry stuck between two bad options: adapt or absorb. Neither feels good. Both cost more.
What Happens Next
There’s no clean resolution here. No policy guarantee. Just rolling inclusion lists, shifting HTS rulings, and a lot of guessing. Maybe frames get excluded. Maybe not. Maybe someone in Washington realizes that tariffs meant to pressure China are kneecapping small U.S. brands trying to build something better.
But don’t bet your business on it.
I didn’t. And until something changes, I won’t.
The bike industry has always been about momentum. Right now, it’s trying to climb with the brakes half-squeezed. And every time someone tries to build something, that squeal gets a little louder.
