Harley Davidson Motorcycles ESCAPE India’s massive import duty hike

India is imposing retaliatory tariffs on a range of American products, including almonds and apples. This is in response to the United States of America imposing import duty on many Indian products. However, the iconic Harley Davidson motorcycles have not been included in the retaliatory tariffs list. This means that the cruiser motorcycles will not get any more expensive due to the import duty hikes, at least in the near future. Earlier, India suggested that it was considering hiking import duty on Harley Davidson motorcycles by as much as 50 %. For some reason, Harleys have been left out of the final, retaliatory tariffs list.

The high import duty that India levies on Harley Davidson motorcycles, just like it does on other imported vehicles, has been a bone of contention for the US President, Donald Trump. Trump called the import duty on Harleys unfair, and wanted the United States to retaliate by imposing high import duty on ‘thousands of motorcycles built in India and shipped for sale to the United States’. However, what Trump missed was the fact that very few India-made motorcycles are exported to the United States. Only Royal Enfield motorcycles are exported from India to the United States, and even so, numbers are in the hundreds, rather than the thousands.

In response to Trump calling for lower duties on Harley Davidson motorcycles, India cut duties in a small way, which the American president felt was not enough. By not imposing retaliatory duty on Harley Davidsons, the Indian government has given the motorcycle maker a temporary respite. However, it remains to be seen how long this situation lasts. Harley Davidson does run a factory in India, at Bawal, Haryana, where it manufactures the Street 500 and 750 range of entry-level Harley Davidsons. The motorcycle maker also assembles some Harleys through the CKD kit route at the same facility.

Via LiveMint