‘Remember when Harley-Davidson couldn’t sell bikes in India': What Donald Trump said of trade tariff

US President Donald Trump has called for reciprocal tariff on countries at a rate at which each country imposes tariff on goods exported from his country. Speaking on the sidelines of his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he even referred to India imposing what he termed was high tariff on US-made Harley-Davidson motorbikes.

In his second term at the White House, Trump has warned of reciprocal tariff and explained that he considers this to be in the best interest of fair trade policies. He already slapped 25 per cent tariff on certain items imported to the US from Canada and Mexico, a move that was put on pause till the end of February. He has also raised fingers against European Union, China and India, among other countries and regions. "We are right now a reciprocal nation… We're going to have the same. Whatever India is charging us, we're charging them and I think it is just fair," he said. “I remember when Harley Davidson couldn't sell their motorbikes in India because of the fact that in India - the tax was so high, the tariff was so high, and Harley was forced to build... But I think they built a factory in India in order to avoid paying the tariffs. And that's what people can do with us."

While India and the US are crucial trade partners, Trump's tariff threats are not aimed at any one nation in particular. Looking at bolstering domestic production and winning the presidential race last year on the back of promise of creating more jobs for his fellow countrymen, Trump is signalling he wants production facilities to emerge or expand in the US rather than US importing a large number of products.

Whatever happened to Harley-Davidson in India?

Harley-Davidson touched down upon Indian shores in 2009 and opened its first dealership here in 2010. A premium brand even in the United States, Harley-brought in models like Sportster, Dyna, VRSC, Softail and CVO through the import route in its initial few years in the country. But as time passed, the company also looked at local assembly of select models. Street 500 and 750 models were locally produced in Haryana's Bawal.

But despite India's massive two-wheeler market, cracking the premium segment was never going to be easy. In September of 2020, Harley-Davidson announced it is packing up, blaming lacklustre demand and lukewarm sales. It was not to be a complete farewell though as the American company entered into a partnership with India's Hero MotoCorp in October of 2020 under which the latter would sell and service Harley bikes. By 2023, the first co-developed bike from the two companies - Harley-Davidson X440 was launched at ₹2.30 lakh (ex-showroom).

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