Donald Trump and The Call of Import Duty on Harley-Davidson Bikes

US President Donald Trump thinks that India sells a “big number” of bikes in the US with no import duties charged.

Why is Donald Trump cribbing about the import duties charged on Harley-Davidson bikes in India? We explain. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Since when has Donald Trump – the President of the United States of America – started lobbying for Harley Davidson? Well, for a couple of weeks now. This is the second time in two weeks that the US president has raked up the issue of import duties charged by India on foreign motorcycles, specifically on Harley Davidson.

At a recent White House business session with governors in the US, Trump was seen mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling him about a reduction in duty on completely built motorcycles.

Royal Enfield exported around 17,300 bikes globally in the past year. (Photo: Royal Enfield)

Trump said India charges a 50 percent import duty on completely built motorcycles, specifically referring to Harley-Davidson bikes sold in the country. However, he said India also exports a “big number” of bikes to the US and the US charges zero duty on importing these bikes. The bikes in question, although Trump did not name them, are from Royal Enfield.

The latest figures for Royal Enfield show that it has sold 7.4 lakh motorcycles in the past year, of which 17,384 were exported. Of this, only around 1,000 motorcycles were sold in the US – which is in no way a “big number” as Trump puts it.

In contrast, Harley Davidson sold about 300,000 bikes worldwide, with its largest market being the US. In India, its sales were under 4,000 motorcycles. The company recently launched a new line up of softail bikes in India. It has an assembly facility in Manesar, where many of its models are built from CKD (completely knocked down kits) while some are imported fully as CBUs (completely built units).

Is the number of bikes that India sells in the US really such a big deal that Donald Trump is calling for reciprocal taxes, or is he unhappy with the fact that India is a very large two-wheeler market, but Harley gets a very small share of it? It is probably the latter.

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan

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