BEVERLY, Mass. (BRAIN) — Parlee Cycles CEO John Harrison told BRAIN on Friday the brand has halted inventory purchases, the second bike manufacturer to do so since the Trump administration's new tariffs announced Tuesday.
"I believe that this scale of impact would be mirrored in many industries, and it is that fact that leads me to believe that significant changes to the initial 'Liberation Day' proposals are inevitable," Harrison said in an email. "Right now, we're pausing any imports in the hopes that things settle down over the coming few weeks.
He said Parlee will continue to import frames from Europe. The brand moved some frame production from China to Portugal about 18 months ago. Imports from Portugal are now hit with a 20% tariff like other EU nations, in addition to pre-existing duties (generally 3.9% on frames). That's less than the tariff on many other nations that supply bikes, such as China (90% total tariff), Cambodia (60%), Vietnam (57%), and Taiwan (43%). Those percentages do not include a potential added tariff on countries that import oil from Venezuela.
Parlee assembles the imported small-batch produced frames in the U.S.
"Given the current tariff proposal, it would take a year or two for us to shift manufacturing and be able to deliver an acceptably priced product for our customers. In the interim there will need to be significant price increases to the consumer to cover our increased costs. It's almost certain that if that happened, it would result in a huge slowdown in buying.
"Considering the fragility of the bicycle market, which is still recovering from COVID, I suspect that many businesses just won't have the available resources to survive long enough to see those changes implemented. The result would be a collapse of the bike industry and a massive spike in unemployment in the sector."
Borealis Fat Bikes said Wednesday that it was temporarily suspending inventory purchases for the 2025-2026 season because of the tariff policies.
Harrison acquired Parlee Cycles in October 2023 after the iconic brand entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy that February.
