Cyclists compete in the first-ever Cambodia Bay Cycling Tour, a race of more than 100 miles from ... [+]
Monthly U.S. bicycle imports surged to their highest total in in more than five years, topping $150 million for only the fifth time in some 20 years.
Some six months into the Covid-19 pandemic, well after reports of bicycle shortages were first reported, it appears demand remains strong. Call it a silver lining to the pandemic.
But unless you are in the industry, you might not know this: The healthy bicycle market has not been so kind to China.
China dips below 60%
For the first time in two decades, China’s percentage of bicycle imports has fallen below 60%, which it has now done three months in a row, according to the most U.S. Census Bureau data.
Cambodia, which has for years been the top supplier of bicycles to Europe under special duty-free regulations, topped 10% of total U.S. imports for the only the fourth time in September. The other three times have all come since May, according to the most recent data available.
It is another example of both the long-standing willingness of China walk away from lower-value manufacturing, such as clothing, and the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, which gave bicycle manufacturers, many of them Taiwanese, pause about shipping final product from China.
Assembled in Cambodia
The surge in exports of bicycles from Cambodia, for example, involves assembling many components that come from China and Taiwan.
For the month of September, China accounted for 56.49% of U.S. bicycle imports, Taiwan acccounted for 25.86%, Cambodia accounted for 11.06% and Vietnam for 2.79.
Bicycle imports into the United States increased 40.43% when compared to the previous September, at a time when overall U.S. imports increased 0.24%. Imports from Cambodia rose from $5.46 million to $17.40 million, a better than 200% increase.
Imports from China, at $88.85 million, were up 46.79% from the previous September are well off a monthly record. Over the last decade, monthly imports have topped $100 million 14 times, including $117.72 million in April of 2015.
The other months that overall U.S. bicycle imports have topped $150 million were in July 2020, at $153.70 million; March 2015, at $162.58 million; April 2015 at a record $180.38 million; May 2015, at $154.51 million; June 2012, at $156.71 million; and July 2012 at $157.64 million.
