The US Can Rebuild Its Iconic Bicycle Manufacturing Industry

Americans love to ride bikes. But right now, consumers are finding that there’s a wait of many months to buy a new bike. That’s because delivery delays and global supply chain problems have left Americans waiting from six to 18 months to get a new bike. These delays are now so bad that the U.S. Census Bureau recently addressed them in a data-filled article. Part of the problem is that America has lost almost all of its domestic bicycle manufacturing industry. Last year, imports accounted for 97.1% of all bikes sold in the U.S. That’s a drastic change for a product that was once predominantly manufactured in America. But at the same time, China has also opportunistically taken over the bike industry—and used a web of government subsidies to seize 87.3% of America’s bike market.