For Harley-Davidson, the cost of Trump’s trade war is $100 million in short-term and lost in American manufacturing.
Motorcycle manufacturer warns that EU tariffs will force it to move work overseas, as Donald Trump’s trade spat hits US companies.
– EU tariffs will cost $100m per year in short-term to Harley-Davidson
– Could be a major blow to Milwaukee
Donald Trump’s “America First” trade policy is backfiring. The US president’s imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs on the European Union and other allies—pitched as a way to boost domestic manufacturing and protect local jobs—were swiftly met with retaliatory tariffs. The EU’s tariffs went into effect on Friday (June 22), following through on a threat to target Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Levi’s jeans, and bourbon.
The company is shifting some production of motorcycles for European customers out of the United States to avoid EU retaliatory tariffs.
It’s some of the most direct evidence yet that tit-for-tat trade fights between the United States and other countries have consequences for American companies. Harley-Davidson said it stood to lose as much as $100 million a year.
“Increasing international production to alleviate the EU tariff burden is not the company’s preference, but represents the only sustainable option,” Harley-Davidson said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
The EU began imposing tariffs Friday on $3.2 billion worth of American goods, including motorcycles, orange juice, bourbon, peanut butter, motorboats, cigarettes, and denim. They are a response to the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe.
For motorcycles, the EU raised its 6% tariff to 31%. That will make each bike about $2,200 more expensive to export, Harley said.
Harley is not raising bike prices for customers or retailers.
“The tremendous cost increase, if passed onto its dealers and retail customers, would have an immediate and lasting detrimental impact to its business in the region,” the company said.
Instead, the company said it will eat $30 million to $45 million for the rest of this year and $90 to $100 million annually.
The company did not say whether any jobs are at risk. Harley-Davidson, based in Milwaukee, employed 5,800 workers at the end of 2017. It makes most of its motorcycles in the United States and has plants in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. It also has facilities in Brazil, India, and Australia.
Europe is Harley-Davidson’s second largest market behind the United States. In 2017, nearly 40,000 European customers bought new Harleys, compared with about 148,000 in the United States.
Sales in the United States dropped 8.5% last year from 2016, but only 0.4% in Europe.
Harley-Davidson doesn’t break out sales in Europe, but Europe, the Middle East, and Africa accounted for $791 million out of the company’s $4.9 million in motorcycle sales last year.
Harley-Davidson’s stock fell 1.3% in early trading.
-CNNMoney’s Ivana Kottasová contributed to this story.
