About the recent US tariffs

This article is not political. It is merely an update of the facts and a guide to the recent changes.

The latest tariffs brought in by the Trump administration have sent shockwaves through the whole of the bicycle industry. On one hand many American brands use overseas factories to produce their products, on the other hand many American consumers import bike gear directly from overseas brands (such as from China.) With the new tariffs, all of these will be subject to additional costs or price rises that will ultimately be paid by the consumer.

How does that affect our US customers? Let’s break it down:

Customers who ordered before April 7th 2025:

It’s unclear which orders will be charged what amount of tariffs. This is uncharted territory. As the importer of the goods, the customer is responsible for all import duties, tariffs and related fees. Our understanding is that any package that arrives before May 1st should not be subject to the new tariffs. However, as the situation is constantly changing, we are unable to guarantee this.

Customers who ordered on or after April 7th 2025:

Customers in the US will now have two shipping options:

USA Pre-paid Duties

We have a new service that allows us to pre-pay duties and tariffs on behalf of the customer. During checkout please select the ‘USA Pre-paid Duties” shipping option. This option is a flat-rate of $100 USD. Please note, this shipping option is not particularly fast. It may take around 3-6 weeks for the goods to finally arrive with the customer as the packages wait for customs clearance, etc. Furthermore; detailed tracking information will not be available until the package is on the last leg of its journey. One limitation of this service is that it is not available for products that contain batteries. (Power meters, electronic groupsets, etc.)

USA Express Shipping

This option is express shipping via one of the large carriers (FedEx, DHL, etc.) This service will be delivered quickly HOWEVER it is ALMOST CERTAIN that the customer will have to pay import duties and taxes. The exact amount of these taxes and tariffs is not clear, but may be in the region of 55-75% or even higher. To minimize disruption, the customer should cooperate to provide the relevant information when requested by local government departments, logistics companies or Panda Podium. The customer is 100% responsible for these taxes, duties and related fees. Panda Podium will not be held responsible. If the customer refuses delivery of the package, the customer will be responsible for all fees related to the return of the product to the sender. Failure to pay said fees will result in the customer being black-listed from our website.

Our Advice:

If you can, choose the pre-paid duties option. Only choose the express shipping if you’re really in a rush. If your order contains multiple items, and one of them contains a battery, you can choose the Pre-Paid Duty option and we will send the battery item separately. This will mean you pay no duties on the other items, but you will still have to pay duties/taxes/tariffs/fees on the battery item. At time of writing, as the battery item has a value of less than $800, the tax should be 30% … but this is subject to change and is the customer’s responsibility.

The situation is constantly changing and we will work to minimize disruption and costs to customers. However, please understand that geopolitics are out of our control. Panda Podium has always been founded on the idea of simplifying the shopping experience and bringing consumers closer to the factories and brands that make great products. It saddens us that recent events have made this goal more difficult.

– The Panda Podium Team