What happens when a perfect storm of trade wars and global pandemics strikes at the heart of one international company’s ability to do business? That’s the situation that Giant Bicycles, the Taiwan-based company known for its wide range of well-regarded bikes, currently faces. Giant is a global player in the cycling world; they make everything from kids’ bikes to high-end road bikes, and they’ve been doing it for decades.
A new article by Raymond Zhong at The New York Times outlines the fraught situation Giant finds itself in. As the Times article notes, the pandemic has prompted many people to buy bicycles — which, in turn, has created a significant backlog for potential bike owners.
The situation Giant finds itself in is compounded by the complexities of global trade: the company itself is based in Taiwan, but they also have manufacturing facilities in China. Their bicycles produced in Taiwan are not subject to tariffs when sold in the US; their bicycles produced in China are. (EU tariffs on electric bikes also play a factor here.)
The result has been a shift back and forth between facilities, with the hopes that increased demand might balance the increased tariffs incurred by using Chinese facilities. But it’s been further complicated by COVID-19, as Zhong writes:
Giant shuttered its Chinese plants after coronavirus infections started spreading quickly in the country, and it kept them closed for a month and a half. Then, when Europe and the United States began locking down, importers canceled orders.
Still, Giant continues on, and the company has plans to expand — including a factory in Hungary that recently opened. Bonnie Tu, the chairwoman of Giant, also spoke about potentially opening a manufacturing facility in the US at some point. Giant has dealt with a uniquely complex situation this year, but evidently they’re already looking ahead to what’s next.
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