Bikes from Kent International’s Bicycle Corporation of America (BCA) factory in Manning, South Carolina, will be labeled “Made in USA with domestic and imported parts” after a ruling by U.S. Customs, Bicycle Retailer reported on Dec. 3, 2015. The bikes had been labeled “Assembled in USA with parts made in China.”
What earned the new label
Chairman and CEO Arnold Kamler said he was not sure the bikes would qualify but applied anyway. “We are not receiving bikes almost complete from China and then slapping a few final parts on them,” he said. Workers press in headset and bottom bracket cups, build the wheels, assemble the bikes from components and set up the brakes. Kamler said Customs agreed to the label after investigating the factory.
- BCA imports hubs, spokes and rims, but its wheel assembly and truing let its wheelsets carry the same qualified label.
- As frame, fork and handlebar production in Manning starts up over the next few years, the company plans to look at an unqualified “Made in USA” label, which requires all or virtually all domestic content.
Price matters
“I don’t think customers are willing to pay 20 or 30 percent more to buy a ‘Made in USA’ bike, but I think they will when it’s only 10 percent more,” Kamler said. He said more automation could bring prices in line with bikes sourced from China.
Source & credit
Sources: Bicycle Retailer and Industry News: “Kent’s BCA bikes get Made in USA label”, Dec. 3, 2015; republished by Manning Live, Dec. 5, 2015.