BELMONT, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Cyclists might start to feel the impact of tariffs on their bikes later this year.
"Obviously we have to keep alert because we don't know what's going to happen on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis," says Clint Paige, owner of Wheelworks in Belmont.
Paige has been preparing for the impact of tariffs since President Trump announced his presidential campaign. While on the trail, Trump promised to impose tariffs on everything from vehicles to foreign imports.
What seemed like just another empty talking point to some, prompted Paige to act quickly.
"This is what actually allowed us, as early as last August and September to essentially double down on buying product and putting it in our warehouse then."
But even with the additional product, Paige is still preparing for the day tariffs hit his customers. He plans on being very transparent with his patrons about how the tariffs will impact their wallets.
"We are going to make it clear on hang tags in particular, if things go up. We'll be putting an additional notation on hang tags that are on the bicycles, that the tariff went up, what date it went up, and what it was before the tariff."
Other shops, like JRA Cycles in Medford, have moved their frame production from China to Taiwan to help with costs. But even with the shift in production, there is still no way to completely avoid the inevitable impact of tariffs.
WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) has more.