Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) turned to EarthQuaker CEO Julie Robbins [Testimony] to blast the “Trump tariffs.” This branding of the tariffs as “Trump tariffs” and “chaos” has become common among committee Democrats in both houses of congress.
“Because of Trump’s tariffs, companies are worried about disruptions in their supply chains and are so worried they don’t know how to move forward,” Rosen said.
Shaheen then framed the tariffs as the reason why Robbins was looking to outsource to Brazil to manufacture some of their goods, but even there Robbins said that her main goal was to contract overseas to make goods for exports. She did not say that she would contract overseas to import.
“My team has spent countless hours running models, forecasting expenses, calculating price increases, then the situation changes drastically with no notice,” Robbins said. “This creates an environment of uncertainty. I don’t know how you can invest without certainty. We have weekly meetings about how to navigate tariffs. We need to increase prices. But the landscape keeps changing, so I don’t know how to proceed,” she said.
As one possible example of price increases, EarthQuaker’s Afterneath branded reverberator is now selling for $219 on their website and on Amazon, while retailers that carry it in stock are still selling it for $199. This suggests the possibility of a $21 price increase, assuming other distributors are selling for the same price.
But tariffs can also protect EarthQuaker. For example, right beside her product on Amazon sits a rival competitor called Aitone. Aitone is based in Shenzhen, China. They sell their reverberator for $33.99, and it is 15% off despite record high China tariffs. It’s even an Amazon sponsored ad, right beside her Ohio-made reverberator. Tariffs on imports might be the least of her worries.
Chairwoman Joni Ernst (R-IA) has been a strong supporter lately of the ‘America First Trade Policy.’ She seems to be completely on board, and has made supportive comments on tariffs in other hearings this month. This time, she showed empathy for Robbins’ predicament, though showed no intent to change course.
“It is a complicated situation,” Ernst said. “We did not get into this situation overnight. We have had tariffs on us from other countries for decades now and that also affects pricing. This is a painful time and we recognize that. But we have to find a way forward. For those who can manufacture more in the U.S., kudos to you. We love that. We want to support you,” she said. “We cannot accept the status quo. I believe in a great American comeback and a new era of domestic manufacturing, ensuring this nation’s national security.”
Riley from Guardian said globalization is not what it used to be.
“The world is changing. Supply chains are not as secure as we thought,” he said. “Covid was an example of that. Building products onshore gives you more resiliency. When you are purely reliant on imports, your lead times are long, it takes a long time to ship stuff here and you have to manage your inventory. But when you are sourced locally, you can move on any demand signal faster,” he said, citing the demand for pink bikes that spiked after the release of the Barbie movie in July 2023. “Instead of painting existing bikes pink to meet that sudden demand, we could easily start making pink bikes from scratch. We can react to demand faster than importers can.”
In U.S. Senate, Guardian Bikes CEO Touts Tariffs, Private Capital as Key to Reshoring Mission
Yes, reshoring manufacturing is possible. Investors will even go along for the ride, Guardian Bikes CEO Brian Riley told the Senate Small Business Committee in a hearing on May 14.
“I was lucky to get on Shark Tank and get an investment from Mark Cuban, but what we have done was try to reshore and make that a strategic advantage for us,” Riley told the Committee in the Q&A period. “For someone like us, telling the story about our tariff and inventory and safety braking systems to investors was big for us and is what helped us secure capital.”
In his written testimony, Riley noted that most bikes sold in the U.S. are made in Asia. Full bikes and bike parts made in China have been subject to tariffs as high as 145% until recently, while bikes from other Asian countries, led by Taiwan, have a lower 10% tariff. He said all of these bike imports equate to millions of tons worth of imported steel and aluminum, a side note few people have made. It is like imagining the “body-in-white” – the steel frame of a car – were all imported instead of made locally with local metals. It would likely put most steel mills out of business if that were the case.
Over 200 million pounds of overseas steel and 40,000,000 pounds of overseas aluminum are imported into the United States annually in the form of finished bicycles, Riley said in his Senate testimony.
One other manufacturer present at the hearing, EarthQuaker Devices of Akron, OH, makers of audio equipment like reverberators used by guitar players, said tariff unknowns over the last several weeks made business unnecessarily difficult.
It does seem, however, that the tariff policies are more known now than they were before. China took off its retaliatory tariffs, so the U.S. did the same. China tariffs are now down to 55% from their retaliation-highs. The U.K. was given a break on Section 232 steel and auto tariffs in favor of a quota with apparent origin restrictions. The 10% baseline tariff remains untouchable. All the nations subject to the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2 have fallen to 10%, but businesses would be wise to assume they can rise to as high as 50% once that 90-day pause ends. Trump also said this during the U.K. trade deal press briefing. The administration said last week that final deals will be settled on tariffs within the next two weeks.
UK and China Tariff Agreements Might be The First and the Last
Read More »Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) turned to EarthQuaker CEO Julie Robbins [Testimony] to blast the “Trump tariffs.” This branding of the tariffs as “Trump tariffs” and “chaos” has become common among committee Democrats in both houses of congress.
“Because of Trump’s tariffs, companies are worried about disruptions in their supply chains and are so worried they don’t know how to move forward,” Rosen said.
Shaheen then framed the tariffs as the reason why Robbins was looking to outsource to Brazil to manufacture some of their goods, but even there Robbins said that her main goal was to contract overseas to make goods for exports. She did not say that she would contract overseas to import.
“My team has spent countless hours running models, forecasting expenses, calculating price increases, then the situation changes drastically with no notice,” Robbins said. “This creates an environment of uncertainty. I don’t know how you can invest without certainty. We have weekly meetings about how to navigate tariffs. We need to increase prices. But the landscape keeps changing, so I don’t know how to proceed,” she said.
As one possible example of price increases, EarthQuaker’s Afterneath branded reverberator is now selling for $219 on their website and on Amazon, while retailers that carry it in stock are still selling it for $199. This suggests the possibility of a $21 price increase, assuming other distributors are selling for the same price.
But tariffs can also protect EarthQuaker. For example, right beside her product on Amazon sits a rival competitor called Aitone. Aitone is based in Shenzhen, China. They sell their reverberator for $33.99, and it is 15% off despite record high China tariffs. It’s even an Amazon sponsored ad, right beside her Ohio-made reverberator. Tariffs on imports might be the least of her worries.
Chairwoman Joni Ernst (R-IA) has been a strong supporter lately of the ‘America First Trade Policy.’ She seems to be completely on board, and has made supportive comments on tariffs in other hearings this month. This time, she showed empathy for Robbins’ predicament, though showed no intent to change course.
“It is a complicated situation,” Ernst said. “We did not get into this situation overnight. We have had tariffs on us from other countries for decades now and that also affects pricing. This is a painful time and we recognize that. But we have to find a way forward. For those who can manufacture more in the U.S., kudos to you. We love that. We want to support you,” she said. “We cannot accept the status quo. I believe in a great American comeback and a new era of domestic manufacturing, ensuring this nation’s national security.”
Riley from Guardian said globalization is not what it used to be.
“The world is changing. Supply chains are not as secure as we thought,” he said. “Covid was an example of that. Building products onshore gives you more resiliency. When you are purely reliant on imports, your lead times are long, it takes a long time to ship stuff here and you have to manage your inventory. But when you are sourced locally, you can move on any demand signal faster,” he said, citing the demand for pink bikes that spiked after the release of the Barbie movie in July 2023. “Instead of painting existing bikes pink to meet that sudden demand, we could easily start making pink bikes from scratch. We can react to demand faster than importers can.”
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