We all like plans to go well: you, me, Colonel Hannibal Smith and, of course, Harley-Davidson. But no matter how hard we try, we don’t always succeed, and that is precisely what has happened to Harley. You have to go back in time to put the situation in perspective. When Donald Trump first came to power in the United States, his intention was to protect American companies from European ones.
To this end, it launched a tough package of trade actions that ended the so-called “trade war,” in which many European products and raw materials were subject to high tariffs. The response from the European Union was the same, and the big motorcycle brands on both sides of the pond were really hurt.
Among those affected was logically Harley-Davidson, so the American manufacturer decided to implement new strategies to get the product to Europe. These consisted of moving part of the production outside the United States. In fact, Harley moved some of it to Thailand, which has no EU tariffs.
But by carrying out this movement in the European Union, they decided to sue the American giant, alleging that this strategy only sought to avoid the aforementioned tariffs. The process reached the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled against Harley with the conclusion that there was no economic efficiency behind its change in production, but rather the intention to avoid regulations.
Despite this, from 2022 to 2025 there have been no tariffs on motorcycles arriving from the United States, so in reality what this setback implies is an extra challenge for the future, as long as the situation does not calm down. Something that does not seem to be in the plans of the new American executive, who will take office at the end of next January.
Not only Harley is the one harmed by these decisions
Therefore, this decision puts Harley-Davidson in a certainly compromised situation, at a time when the manufacturer was regaining its rhythm and improving in 2024 the sales achieved in 2023.
Even so, these measures and political decisions do not only affect Harley but also other brands such as Indian or Zero, in the same way that European brands could be affected if the trade war intensifies.
A panorama that is not beneficial to anyone, beyond the public coffers and a supposed improvement in the internal market. A modern autarky that sounds utopian in such an extremely globalized world.
