Only together can we do something against the unjust Harley-Davidson punitive tariffs!
Originally I wanted to stay out of this whole political circus. On the one hand, I asked myself why the Harley-Davidson dealer association was only taking action now and, on the other hand, the situation is now so explosive that it no longer matters why, why and why this is happening now so is.
What should be done first!
This link opens in an external window, where you can access the petition against the Harley-Davidson punitive tariffs. It is important that you take part, we should get at least 50,000 together, we are now at around 9,200. First name, last name, email and location, without street is enough and you are in the HD team against the punitive tariffs.
The current situation is dire!
Harley-Davidson USA wants to take legal action against the tightening of punitive tariffs; this creates a distortion of competition that they do not want to accept. It's basically an EU posse, what kind of plan is behind it anyway? It's not the case that Harley-Davidson just ships its goods to the EU and markets them directly to customers. There are tight structures throughout Europe; there are 369 Harley-Davidson authorized dealers in the EU who are absolutely dependent on Harley-Davidson's ability to deliver. It cannot be in the interest of the EU to destroy entire structures here.
Airbus and Boeing were granted reprieve
In the dispute between Boeing and Airbus, the punitive tariffs were initially suspended for 4 months in March. Harley-Davidson must also be given this opportunity. It is precisely this demand that we must now enforce together, because a company like Harley-Davidson actually has no place in the transatlantic dispute between the EU and the USA. Every blow against Harley-Davidson also hits a European citizen.
Inquiry to the Federal Ministry of Economics on the subject of Harley-Davidson punitive tariffs
At the end of April, I asked our Federal Minister of Economics, Peter Altmaier, what concrete measures would now be taken to suspend or avoid the increase in punitive tariffs.
Harleysite request to the BMWi from April 29, 2021
By decision of the EU on March 31, 2021, the Binding Origin Information was withdrawn from Harley-Davidson with effect from April 19. As of June 2021, the tariffs will rise by a further level of 50 percent punitive tariffs, to a total of 56 percent import duties. Federal Minister Peter Altmeyer announced in the summer of 2019 that he would strive for an agreement with the USA at the turn of the year in 2020. To date, nothing has happened in this area, even though there is now even the new US President Joe Biden. On the contrary, the situation for Harley-Davidson will get even worse in June 2021.
The Harley-Davidson CEO , Jochen Zeitz, has announced that he will take legal action against the stricter regulations. Considering that there are 369 Harley-Davidson authorized dealers in the EU, 67 of which are based in Germany, this is definitely a problem for the German Harley-Davidson authorized dealers.
I'm now specifically concerned with the 67 German HD dealers, what does Peter Altmaier say to them when they no longer receive goods from the USA or the prices rise exorbitantly.
Are solutions being sought, such as those found at Boeing/Airbus, where punitive tariffs were waived for the next 4 months in order to negotiate new agreements during this time?
Will Mr. Peter Altmaier stand up for the German HD dealers? And what options can be considered.
Answer from the Federal Ministry of Economics on May 4, 2021
Thank you for your inquiry.
The BMWi states: The BMWi strongly supports the efforts of the European Commission to solve the difficulties that have arisen in trade relations with the USA in recent years. An encouraging example of this is the agreement you mentioned to suspend the respective (counter) measures in the Airbus and Boeing WTO disputes.
We also support the European Commission in its goal of quickly reaching a viable solution with the EU's so-called rebalancing measures. If the US measures were ended, according to DVO 724/2018 and VO 886/2018 of the COM, the EU's rebalancing measures would also be ended immediately (Art. 3 Para. 1 - DVO 724/2018).
The BMWi is very keen to find an amicable solution. We have repeatedly emphasized that this would benefit exporters, importers, processors and consumers equally on both sides of the Atlantic. That's why we support - including in all our own discussions with the US side - the European Commission's efforts to reach an agreement with the USA.
Conclusion so far!
We read that the Federal Office is trying hard, no one wants to have that on their job reference, so more pressure simply needs to be built up at this point, because in the end it affects all of us. It is clear that the European Harley-Davidson customer will ultimately pay for the European Union's questionable strategy.
What are the possibilities?
What other options are there? The Harley-Davidson dealers and even the customer must now be uncomfortable, in every district there are EU parliamentarians and members of the Bundestag who are supposed to represent our interests, district administrators, etc. You can politely ask them what they plan to do!
The petition is an opportunity to definitely get involved and write to your regional politicians if they want to be re-elected.
Harley-Davidson can only win the battle with its fan base behind it!
Now you need time, the first milestone is a 4-month delay , which has also been granted to Boeing and Airbus! That should be manageable!
So write, like, share, comment and get things moving! Especially on Twitter, where our politicians are out and about, use the hashtag “PeterAltmaierHarleyDavidson”!
The lobby of the motorcycle scene is almost nil, it's time we change that!
Hashtags:
#peteraltmaierharleydavidson #peteraltmaier #harleydavidson #harleysite #harleysitenews
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