Harley-Davidson shifts some production overseas

Motorcycle maker has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would hit sales

Harley-Davidson, up against spiralling costs from tariffs, will begin to shift the production of motorcycles headed for Europe from the US to overseas facilities.

The European Union on Friday began rolling out tariffs on American imports like bourbon, peanut butter and orange juice. The EU tariffs on $3.4 billion (Dh12.4 billion) worth of US products are retaliation for duties the Trump administration is imposing on European steel and aluminium.

President Donald Trump has used Harley-Davidson as an example of a US business that is being harmed by trade barriers. Yet Harley has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would negatively impact sales.

Harley-Davidson Inc. sold almost 40,000 motorcycles in the European Union last year, generating revenue second only to the US, according to the Milwaukee company. The maker of the iconic American motorcycle said in a regulatory filing Monday that EU tariffs on its motorcycles exported from the US jumped between 6 per cent and 31 per cent, which translates into an additional, incremental cost of about $2,200 per average motorcycle exported from the US to the EU.

“Increasing international production to alleviate the EU tariff burden is not the company’s preference, but represents the only sustainable option,” the company said in prepared remarks.