Harley-Davidson wants to sue against punitive tariffs!
Harley-Davidson wants to sue against punitive tariffs!
The Harley-Davidson chief executive officer Jochen Zeitz, announced in Milwaukee on Monday that it would take legal action against the punitive tariffs. There is still no agreement in sight in the trade dispute between the EU and the USA; on the contrary, there is even more to come. From June, import duties on Harley-Davidson motorcycles are to rise by 31 percent to 56 %. This is not only bad news for the stock market, but also for all 369 European Harley-Davidson dealerships. They would have to foot the bill in the same way in the end and accept massive losses, if that is what happens.
The German Minister for Economic Affairs, Peter Altmaier, most recently in June 2019 indicated that at the turn of the year 2019, on 2020 the possibility of an agreement would exist. In the meantime, the US president has already changed and the situation is getting extremely worse. The question is whether the good man is still involved at all, otherwise something would certainly have been done by now. It's also about the future of German companies, which doesn't seem to matter at all.
The real problem is that not only the vehicles from the USA are to be subject to punitive tariffs, but the entire Harley-Davidson product range is affected, regardless of where they were produced. The company is actually on the right track again, the share price is stable and the outlook is positive. The renewed increase in punitive tariffs would mean the end for Harley-Davidson on the European market, said Jochen Zeitz. Apparently nobody in the EU sees the connection that not only a US company is being harmed, but every Harley-Davidson dealer, employees and even apprentices.
Am Anfang der Strafzölle, hat Harley-Davidson die Zollerhöhung noch selbst getragen, ohne sie weiterzureichen. Ein Jahr später wurde die Produktion für Europa nach Thailand verlagert, was besonders in den USA für große Proteste gesorgt hat. Eine Produktion in Deutschland, ist sicherlich wegen der hohen Kosten keine alternative Lösung, höchstens, wenn sie nur die Parts in Deutschland zusammen setzen würden. Es gibt durchaus Teile von europäischen Zulieferern, unmöglich wäre das nicht.
The idea is unusual, but quite interesting if there were suddenly a Harley-Davidson „Made in Germany“. The „Made in Germany“ logo was created in 1887 and was intended as a warning instead of a customs duty, which didn't really work out.
Jochen Zeitz currently has no choice but to take legal action. His argument: „Harley-Davidson is being excluded from European competition by the punitive tariffs.“ He is right, hopefully the judges will see it the same way!
Text: Harleysite 04/2021
