The ink was barely dry on President Trump’s sweeping new tariff announcement before some of the biggest names in the American bike industry began adjusting course. This week, just over two weeks after the White House unveiled its “Liberation Day” tariff order, which slapped new import taxes on everything from European e-bikes to Vietnamese tires, Trek and Specialized became the first major bike brands to publicly signal how they’ll respond.
The bottom line? Even after tariffs were – for now, at least – scaled back to 10% on imports from most countries, bikes are about to get more expensive.
Suvi Loponen
Two brands, two strategies
Trek will raise prices across most of its bike lines, including Electra, the company told retailers in an email this week. Trek didn't specify a dollar or percent amount, but cost increases will be applied as dealers make their orders. The increases are effective immediately, including on backordered items, to address cost increases which have risen “to a level that needs to be addressed,” Trek said in the dealer email. Trek explained that the decision to apply the price increase to backordered items is designed to discourage a run on inventory at pre-tariff prices.
Did we do a good job with this story?
