President Trump looks to be adding insult to injury as far as Harley-Davidson, and potentially other motorcycle manufacturers, are concerned.
Trump has taken several opportunities to malign the Wisconsin-based motorcycle manufacturer in recent days after it announced it would shift some production from its U.S.-based facilities to an overseas plant.
The move is designed to circumvent the tariff increase the European Union has placed on motorcycles in response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs on the EU. The tax moved from 6% to 31%, adding $2,200 to the cost of a motorcycle.
Today the president tweeted that Harley and other motorcycle companies looking to shift production were on the wrong side of the issue.
(Trade tariffs getting global pushback: Trump v. The World. Click Here for the story.)
“Now that Harley-Davidson is moving part of its operation out of the U.S., my Administration is working with other Motor Cycle companies who want to move into the U.S,” Trump said on Twitter, adding “The U.S. is where the Action is!”
There are several motorcycle companies based outside the United States including Honda, Yamaha, BMW, Ducati, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and others. Neither Trump nor White House officials offered specifics on what company or companies expressed interest in moving to the U.S.
Trump took Harley to task for several days on twitter, including threatening them with a new “huge” tax, which he didn’t clarify. Again over the weekend in an interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” he lambasted Harley.
(Click Here to see how “nearly every segment of auto industry” is threatened by Trump trade tactics.)
He expressed his disappointment in the company and warned that it’ll pay for the move in the long run because “Everyone who ever bought a Harley-Davidson voted for Trump,” he said.
However, another motorcycle manufacturer is also following Harley’s lead. Polaris Industries, which produces Indian Motorcycles, confirmed the company could move some production from northwest Iowa to Poland.
(To see more about Trump’s auto tariff threat triggering backlash, Click Here.)
“Nothing is definitive,” Polaris spokeswoman Jess Rogers told Bloomberg News. “We’re looking at a range of mitigation plans.”
I think trump hating everything.
The word was out that H-D was closing the Kansas plant and relocating overseas long before any tariffs were imposed by President Trump. HD is nothing more than a liar and guilty of fleecing their gullible customer base.The forecast of the move was not to lower current pricing but to raise current profits with the cheaper Taiwan labor!