At the beginning of 2021, an extension that exempted electric bikes from a 25% tariff expired. Unfortunately, here we are in March 2021 and nothing has been done to rectify the situation. The result is that electric bike companies have no choice but to increase prices. So far Ride1Up and Juiced Bikes have publicly addressed the tariffs. Rad Power Bikes also increased prices on several models last year though it is not known whether this was directly related to the tariffs or a separate business decision. For Ride1Up prices on all of their models have now increased $100.
Ride1Up Increases Ebike Prices by $100
According to Ride1Up’s post on their blog:
As much as we hate to do it, the recent Trump-era trade war tariffs which were finally implemented for electric bikes on January 1st 2021 are forcing us to increase the prices of our electric bikes. We have long been leading the industry in a more affordable approach to quality electric bikes and we plan on continuing this trend in the future. However, the added 25% expense to our products has forced us to increase our product prices 5-10% (+$100) per model.
Ride1Up goes on to explain that the $100 increase in every model doesn’t cover all of their increased expenses. They hope it will help bridge the gap until the harmful policy hopefully ends. Offering their popular affordable electric bikes at 2020 prices was unsustainable for the business. Prices were increased on March 10, 2021
Juiced Bikes Increases Ebike Prices between $100 and $200
Ride1Up was the first company to address the tariffs but on March 19th Juiced Bikes provided an update from Tora Harris, Juiced Bikes Founder & CEO.
Tora writes:
Sadly, we can no longer financially withstand the incredibly damaging impact of the current 25% tariff imposed on nearly all e-bikes imports. I carefully use the word ‘nearly’ because 98% of all electric bikes are sourced from China and subject to this tariff. We are absolutely baffled that an industry (both e-bikes and bikes) that so deeply influences reduced carbon emissions, energy efficiency, improved urban congestion, increased activity, mobility and overall physical fitness would be essentially taxed at this extraordinarily high rate.
Juiced Bikes strongly supports the efforts of PeopleForBikes to lobby “for tariff exclusions and policy reforms that create a more predictable and rational culture of trade policy”. In addition to the burdensome and irrational tariffs, the bike and e-bike industry is faced with significant increases in material costs and unfavorable exchange rate fluctuations. We are proud to have successfully delivered high-performance e-bikes to thousands of customers despite those ongoing challenges, however, the addition of a 25% tariff requires that we raise our pricing on Juiced electric bikes, effective April 4.
As a result of the tariffs, Juiced Bikes will be increasing prices between $100 and $200 on models. You can view the changes on the Juiced Bikes blog.
The Silver Lining
The hope is that the tariff exclusions for electric bikes eventually get extended. However, if this is not the case there is a reason for optimism when it comes to ebike prices. There is a current bill called the Electric Bicycle Kickstart for the Environment (E-BIKE) Act. If passed, it would provide consumers with a 30% tax credit on eligible electric bikes. You can check out the text of the E-BIKE Act at the Congress.gov website.