New #Trump tariffs threaten Wisconsin's Trek Bicycle, soybean farmers as trade war w/ China heats up

[riversedge]

New tariffs threaten Wisconsin's Trek Bicycle, soybean farmers as trade war with China heats up



Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 2:12 p.m. CT Sept. 21, 2018 | Updated 3:32 p.m. CT Sept. 21, 2018


From bicycles to beans, Wisconsin and much of the nation are caught in the crossfires of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Starting Monday, the Trump administration will begin taxing $200 billion more in Chinese goods. The tariffs will start at 10 percent and rise to 25 percent in 2019.

The product list is huge, and it includes goods from some of Wisconsin’s most well-known companies, such as Waterloo-based Trek Bicycle Corp.

If Trump delivers on the 25 percent tariff, Trek says it would pay an additional $30 million in tariffs each year on bikes imported from China.


“Trek will be forced to pass these costs on to the consumer,” Roger Gierhart, Trek's vice president of marketing and supply chain, said in recent testimony before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

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[Groveling Goblin]

1. Trek outsourced the manufacture of it's bikes to China years ago

And quite frankly they've become crap.

No better than a Walmart bike.

[Brother Buzz]

3. 99%+ of Trek bicycles are made overseas

But their high-end competition carbon fiber road bikes are still designed, manufactured, and assembled in in Waterloo, Wisconsin

They also manufacturer some wicked cool carbon fiber wheelsets in Waterloo, although they are mostly designed in California.

That being said, ALL their groupsets are still made overseas.

And speaking of groupsets (the components on the bicycles), the components Trek uses beats everything found on a comparable bicycle found at Walmart.

[Groveling Goblin]

4. My MTB is a Wyatt, made in LaCross Wi

Which I've upgraded to Box components.

Around town, I still ride my Trek Marlin Gary Fisher 29er that I've converted to an urban cruiser.

[Brother Buzz]

5. Assembled in LaCross, Wi

I built my first mountain bike, before they even called them mountain bikes, in Joe Breeze's father's machine shop. It weighs 34 pounds and I called it a 'Monster bike'. It may weigh a ton, but the geometry is surprising spot-on for my body, even today. Joe Breeze was still in high school, but he noted what I was doing.

[LakeArenal]

2. I was pretty shocked. I was under the assumption

They were “handcrafted” in USA... Madison even.

I can’t believe they put that DINO up against Walker.