Trump attacks Harley which is moving some manufacturing overseas because of his tariffs
Harley-Davidson
'A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end - they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!' Trump tweeted
President Donald Trump on Tuesday made fresh attacks on the motorcycle company Harley-Davidson, accusing them of using trade war as an "excuse" to shift their production to the European market. He further lashed out at the company saying that no Harley-Davidson should ever be built in another countryever.
"A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end - they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!," he said on Twitter.
"Early this year Harley-Davidson said they would move much of their plant operations in Kansas City to Thailand. That was long before Tariffs were announced. Hence, they were just using Tariffs/Trade War as an excuse," he said in a tweetstorm about the company.
"When I had Harley-Davidson officials over to the White House, I chided them about tariffs in other countries, like India, being too high ... Harley must know that they won't be able to sell back into USwithout paying a big tax!"
As sales began to drop in the US, the motorcycle company announced in January that it will be shutting down its plans inKansas City andMissouriand consolidate jobs in York, Pennsylvania.
On Monday, it said it plans toshift somemanufacturing overseas to avoid European tariffs imposed last week. The EU targeted the US vehicles as part of its rebuttal to Trump's tariffs on imported aluminum and steel.
US president Trump expressed "surprise" over this move and said:"Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag."
On June 22nd, the European Union had started charging 25 per cent import duties on a number of products including motorcycles as the Trump administration imposed tariffs on European steel and aluminium, ostensibly to protect US jobs.
Harley-Davidson currently has overseas manufacturing plants in Australia, Brazil and India.
The company has not specified where the additional manufacturing will go. However, local US media reported in May that a labor union for Harley-Davidson suggested some Kansas City jobs would move to Thailand -- a move the company denied.
Trump has also threatened fresh tariffs on European auto imports, which would especially punish Germany, home of Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler.