Perez, the USTR spokesperson, said the future of tariff exclusions related to bicycles would be “addressed in the coming days.”

Although US States rarely exert much influence over US foreign policy, I would hope that the cities and states offering ebike subsidies would make the argument that instituting the tariffs for ebikes would basically be a one-directional taxpayer fund transfer to the federal coffers, simultaneously undermining the purpose of the subsidies, while also not having anywhere near the desired effect toward foreign manufacturers.

Whereas the same doesn’t really apply to electric automobiles, as the feds have their own subsidy program for those, so the burden of tariffs is shared across states and the federal government.

To be clear, this isn’t a legal argument, and the authority of the US Trade Representative to impose tariffs on e bikes is undisputed. But rather, it’s a policy and pragmatic argument, since shifting money between subdivisions of the country does zilch for foreign trade relations.

This is what worries me about the tariffs. I’m all for supporting American companies, but I don’t know of any making ebike motors, motor controllers, throttles or battery packs. Even Grin Tech in Canada is using Chinese parts.

The most important thing is getting people off cars for short trips of 1-45 miles. Making ebikes affordable helps us decarbonize for a fraction of the cost of what an EV car costs. You can get an Aventon ebike for as low as $1,000 USD. More ebikes from Juiced Bikes on sale go as low as $1,150. And those aren’t even subsidized by the government, even though ebikes make a lot more sense for cities over EV cars.

Until there’s the capacity to drop in American motors to replace Bafeng motors and american batteries to replace Samsung cells, I don’t see this helping people get off of ICE motors and oil.

What will happen when someone’s motor breaks in 2026?

I love it here, guys.