Silca limits US run of Elettrico inflators… thanks to US tariffs

The impact of President Trump’s US tariffs are yet to be fully ascertained, not least because there is uncertainty over which tariffs will endure and which are unlikely to be enacted while they are being used as bargaining chips in international trade discussions.

However, they’ve made a swift impact for a number of US businesses, including pump, tool, lube and accessory manufacturer Silca. The Indianapolis-headquartered business has squarely blamed “global tariff issues” for the limited run of its Elettrico Micro & Elettrico Ultimate inflators in its home market. Those issues meant the product has been close to an international exclusive, with only 100 units available in the US which have sold out within five days of launch.

A post on Instagram lays out the company’s reasoning: “Thanks to global tariff issues this launch is almost an international exclusive, with only 100 units available in the US. Before you hit us with “well you should have made it here” we tried, it’s not exactly possible for less than $500 bucks.”

Characteristically straight-talking boss Josh Poertner elaborated on the point in a YouTube video: “There’s a ton of misinformation out there, sadly…so much of it coming from the administration. For starters: Who pays for the tariffs? Companies like me and ultimately [US] customers like you… Exporting companies and exporting countries do not pay any tariff or duties on items they export, that’s all on the importer.

“Both of these products are made in China. We didn’t start in China, but for the same reason your cellphone, flatscreen or drone is made in China, because they are the best at it – at consumer electronic prices. We made all Silca pumps in the USA until the first Trump administration, when they put big aluminium and steel tariffs in place that jacked up our raw material pricing. It made it almost as expensive to buy the materials for a pump as it did to sell the pump to a bike shop. But they didn’t put tariffs of the finished goods from Asia. So in 2018 we offshored all our pump manufacturing to Taiwan except for the Ultimate.

“We lost three of our really close machine shop partners at the time as they couldn’t afford to make consumer goods in America with those raw material costs go up.”

Poertner went on to add Silca is using precision machines components in the Elettrico Micro & Ultimate. Silca did find US manufacturers making the kind of motor required for the Elettrico pumps, but the cheapest would cost Silca $59 dollars: “You can’t have a single component that expensive if you’re selling the item at $150 dollars… there’s no market for a $300 mini pump.”

He said it was “an impossibly hard decision”: “I’m sorry for our staff, our bike shops, for you [consumers]. I really hope things change. I really hope manufacturing comes back to America… We’re 65-70% US manufactured…”

He noted that there may be shortages and retailers may struggle with some brands looking to sae margin and cut costs by dealing direct with consumers.

Poertner also added that the development of the product began before the Trump tariffs were announced. It’s well worth 12 minutes of your time listening to the Silca boss for his ‘on-the-ground’ perspective on the Trump tariff topic.