FEATURE


IMAGE BY SHUTTERSTOCK MIHA CREATIVE


WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? O


by Mark Sutton


f all the times to choose to sit down and write on the subject of geopolitical waves and how they affect the bike industry, my time of writing


aligns with Donald’s proclaimed ‘Liberation Day’. Well, that was the plan, but such was the volatility around this event that everything written initially was invalid within 24 hours. This is a live one, so please excuse any inaccuracies by the time you read and expect volatility any time the POTUS holds a press conference. Or tweets.


USA: #OrangeMonday shocks the world Such was the volatility during the first week of April that there was one 15-minute period where an unverified tweet from somebody assumed to be in the know added then


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immediately wiped $3 trillion of market value. Days later, again on the basis of a social media post, Trump’s at times seemingly deliberate confusion sowing resulted in a larger, still 50% rebound of the market drop. This is the world we now occupy, spectators to an economy that at times seems to be a plaything to the powerful. One of the first to go on record with realism about how tariffs would affect a business shipping large volumes in from Vietnam was Tern Bicycles. By no means the bike industry’s largest brand, but a mainstay of the e-bike segment nonetheless, the brand’s North American general manager Steve Boyd explained that, if a shipment didn’t clear customs by a short notice deadline it would be on the hook for an additional $1 million over and


May 2025 | 25


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