WASHINGTON, D.C. (BRAIN)—It’s not entirely clear what impact the Clean Energy Bill will have, if any, on the bicycle industry.
The proposed bill that the House will be considering in July would place mandatory reductions on greenhouse gasses, according Bikes Belong Washington staffer Mike Tongour. But since most bicycle products are manufactured overseas now, this might not be of much relevance to this industry.
However, if the bill is enacted the costs of steel and other components made in the United States will surely go up, Tongour said.
“Efforts to cancel the bill in the event that China or India fail to impose similar greenhouse gas reductions have failed,” Tongour said. “Conceivably there may be some effort to impose additional fees on manufactured products coming from an environmentally insensitive country. This isn't in the bill now. Nor is it likely because it might cause a trade war.”
But the industry shouldn’t be alarmed. As the bill stands now, it is unlikely the Senate would support the House version of the bill. In fact, it isn’t likely that a bill will reach President Obama’s desk at all this year, and perhaps not next year either, Tongour said.
—Jason Norman
