For U.S. bike companies, China is almost everything. Whatever they need -- whole bikes, components, or safety accessories -- can be manufactured and sourced from China in large scale, at competitive prices and with great quality.

However, additional tariffs levied by the United States on Chinese imports, including those important to bike business, are forcing U.S. companies to make painful decisions amid the ongoing trade disputes between the world's top two economies: continuing importing from China or sourcing elsewhere.

Either would mean higher costs and more uncertainties for the bike industry, as China, a critical part of the global supply chain, represents the best source and is expected to stay that way for a long time, U.S. bike business owners and insiders have told Xinhua.

TARIFF BACKLASH

"It's like a punch in the gut," said Arnold Kamler, chairman and CEO of Kent International, Inc., when asked to describe his feelings toward the additional tariffs on China-made completed bikes and components, both of which his bike business relies heavily on.

Last year, the U.S. move to impose an extra 10-percent tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese imports raised Kent International's overall costs by 7.5 percent and led to higher prices, and subsequently a decline of about 5 percent in sales that fall.

The U.S. bike industry is not alone. The nation's economy as a whole suffered a loss of 7.8 billion U.S. dollars last year as a result of the trade disputes with other economies, according to a study published by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, a non-profit research organization.

To make things even worse, Washington unilaterally accelerated trade tensions with China by raising the additional tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent this May, leaving Kamler no choice but to set up prices again for fear of further sales reduction.

The second wave of tariffs would increase overall retail prices for bikes by 10-12 percent and contribute to a further decline in sales, Bob Margevicius, who is on the board of directors of the U.S. Bicycle Product Suppliers Association, predicted.

"We are concerned coming into the Christmas and the holiday season this can hurt business," Kamler said.

The bike business that 69-year-old Kamler is running was started by his father in 1958 and could date back to 1907, when his grandfather opened a bike shop in New York City.

After weathering various turns in the industry, the family business has made itself one of the nation's largest suppliers of imported and home-made bikes, but the current heavy tariffs levied on key products are what the family business has never run into before.

"We feel it's unfair to us and to many other companies," said Kamler, who is completely against protectionist measures. "While there are disputes that need to be resolved between our countries on trade, I'm wondering why our company is the one having to pay the price for this."

What makes him even more frustrating is that those tariffs are standing in the way of an expansion plan to increase annual production from 350,000 to 1 million, including electric bikes, at his factory in Manning, South Carolina in the next few years.

"But any plans for that kind of expansion are on hold until this tariff issue settles," he said.

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