US exempts bicycles, e-bikes from Section 232 tariffs after industry push

The US bicycle industry has secured relief from proposed steel and aluminium tariffs, after a sustained campaign led by PeopleForBikes resulted in bicycles and e-bikes being excluded from new Section 232 measures.

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US President Donald Trump confirmed in early April that bicycles, e-bikes and frames will not be treated as derivative products under the tariffs, avoiding what manufacturers said would have been significant costs tied to imported steel and aluminium components.

PeopleForBikes said the industry had been pushing back since October against two separate requests that aimed to impose 50 per cent tariffs on the metal content of bikes and frames. The group mobilised companies, formed coalitions and submitted more than 1,300 comments opposing the move, the highest among industries involved in the process.

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With the exclusion now confirmed, importers will not need to calculate the steel and aluminium content of each product or pay related duties. The administration has also rolled back an earlier August 2025 decision that would have brought e-bikes under Section 232 steel tariffs.

The decision comes as a relief for global manufacturers. German e-bike company Riese & Müller had paused imports to the US last year due to tariff uncertainty, noting that its bikes, with as many as 12,000 configurations, would have faced complications given the varying mix of steel and aluminium parts in each model.

The move also effectively ends the two inclusion requests put forward by Guardian Bikes and the Aluminum Extruders Council. According to PeopleForBikes, no further inclusion requests will be considered, with authorities instead shifting focus to monitoring imports and the effectiveness of existing tariffs.

Guardian Bikes had supported inclusion under Section 232 as part of its strategy to expand domestic manufacturing using US-produced steel and aluminium. PeopleForBikes argued that the tariffs were intended to protect national metal production, not create competitive advantages for individual companies.

Several US bicycle companies, including Rad Power Bikes, Kent Bicycles and Electric Bicycle Company, have shut down over the past year, with tariffs cited as a key factor. Rad Power Bikes was later acquired by Life EV, which is focused on localising e-bike production.

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