In the latest twist in the ongoing saga of Trump’s trade war with China, US Customs and Border Protection has excluded imported Chinese electric bicycles from the 25% tariffs originally imposed by the Trump Administration. But the way they did it comes as a bit of a surprise.
The Trump Administration had previously granted an exclusion to the Section 301 tariffs for electric motorcycles of 1 kW of less, imported to the US from China.
Electric motorcycles and electric bicycles actually share the same import code in the Harmonized Import System, as they are both electrically powered two-wheelers.
But while electric motorcycles had been specifically named in the tariff exclusion, no mention was made of electric bicycles.
For clarity, Kent International and Allco Manufacturing requested a ruling on whether the electric motorcycle tariff exclusion applied to electric bicycles as well, according to Bicycle Retailer.
Last month, Customs made a ruling on the case, confirming that electric bicycles are in fact electric motorcycles, at least for importation purposes.
According to Steven Mack, the director of Customs’ National Commodity Specialist Division, in his ruling on the request for clarity:
