WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The public comment period ended Thursday for a proposed 25 percent tariff on $200 billion in Chinese imports, including most categories of bicycle products. Now the industry can do little but wait for the Trump administration to announce whether it will go ahead on the entire package, remove some products from the list, or perhaps impose a smaller tariff on some or all of the product categories.
There is no exact date set for a decision; it could come at any time.
Some news reports suggest a decision could come as soon as Friday, which would be considerably faster than the administration has reached a decision on previous rounds of proposed tariffs.
"Unfortunately we don't really know," said Alex Logemann, the director of state and local policy at PeopleForBikes, which has coordinated an industry response in opposition to the tariffs.
"There are some mixed messages coming from the administration," Logemann said, pointing to remarks from White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who told reporters that administration and the President would review all the comments received before reaching a decision.
The Wall Street Journal said that trade groups were gearing up for a decision as soon as Friday.
The administration has accelerated its pace in acting on tariff proposals this year, with each decision coming quicker than the last.
Meanwhile, Trump has proposed another round of tariffs, on $267 billion in Chinese imports, which would put tariffs on virtually every product imported from China.
