In 2022, Brian Riley moved his Guardian Bikes production to Indiana but still relies on Chinese parts for 90% of costs, reports Natasha Khan of The Wall Street Journal. Riley aims to reduce this to 20% by 2025 by producing more parts domestically. With the end of the U.S. bike exemption and proposed tax cuts by Trump for U.S. manufacturers, Riley believes domestic bike production is viable, despite industry doubts. Khan writes:
In 2022, Brian Riley opened a bicycle factory in Seymour, Ind., shifting production of his Guardian Bikes brand to the U.S. from China. The problem for him now: Nearly all the parts still come from China.
Riley had aspirations to use American-made components before the November presidential election of Donald Trump, who has pledged to enact steep tariffs on imports from China. […]
Almost all of the bicycles sold in the U.S. are imported, and most of those are made in China or assembled from Chinese parts, according to industry estimates and trade data. A typical bicycle is made of 30 to 40 parts, most of them from different Chinese manufacturers.
For now, components from China represent about 90% of the total cost of Guardian’s parts. By the end of next year, Riley hopes that figure will be about 20%. Guardian is starting production of its own bike frames and is working to source parts such as grips and reflectors stateside. As a result of Guardian’s new manufacturing, American-made parts could represent about 60% of the cost. […]
Since the U.S. lifted the assembled-bike exemption in 2024, the cost to make Guardian’s bikes has been more comparable with other bikes sold in the U.S., Riley said. In addition, Trump has proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 15% from 21% for companies that make their products in the U.S. and expand tariffs on foreign-made goods.
“Everyone says making bikes here is impossible,” Riley said. He said his factory shows it isn’t.
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