Tariff on US bikes

[Camelot1971]

With the EU tariffs on US imports kicking in today is this likely to make any difference to Harley sales in the EU or is this all a storm in a tea cup?

[CaptainSlow]

Camelot1971 said:

With the EU tariffs on US imports kicking in today is this likely to make any difference to Harley sales in the EU or is this all a storm in a tea cup?

No, lots of middle-aged accountants will still be in the showrooms choosing tassels.

[ChocolateFrog]

Would be interesting to know if they literally got 25% more expensive today or if some of that cost will be absorbed.

I'm not up to speed on HD prices but I bet that adds 5k typically.

[Reffro]

It's an import tariff.

Anything already in the showroom or on the dock is exempt.

Anything on the boat or still in the USA, that will be impacted.

Expect significant price rises for anything that is a factory order, as dealers don't have 25% in their margin to give away...

[CaptainSlow]

Basic economics would suggest that the tariff will be paid by a combination of the manufacturer, dealer and customer depending on the price elasticity of the product. In addition, the price of current stock will be impacted as they have now increased in value to both the dealer and the customer.

[rodericb]

HD et al have a few options: eat part of it, decontent, reposition, push finance harder. To ease in a price increase rather than a one-off crippling slug. The expensive stuff might be a bit more immune to these tactics as the buyers are probably not as price sensitive. They can also source more (or all) Euro market stuff from India, Thailand, Brazil..... I think the smaller HD's for Europe already come from India.

[matthias73]

If a Harley street 750 is made in India, then imported to the UK, is it exempt?

[boyse7en]

ChocolateFrog said:

Would be interesting to know if they literally got 25% more expensive today or if some of that cost will be absorbed.

I'm not up to speed on HD prices but I bet that adds 5k typically.

It won't be 25%
That's the increase on the dock price. The increase at the retail end will be somewhere around 10-15%

[kurt535]

boyse7en said:

ChocolateFrog said:

Would be interesting to know if they literally got 25% more expensive today or if some of that cost will be absorbed.

I'm not up to speed on HD prices but I bet that adds 5k typically.

It won't be 25%
That's the increase on the dock price. The increase at the retail end will be somewhere around 10-15%

is there a list anywhere 'how much' the tariffs are actually going to be? and i wonder if it affects importing 2nd hand ones from the US.

[pembo]

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/may/tra...

Fill your boots!
I can't believe how many types of rice there are!!

[trickywoo]

I wonder if this will make Triumph bikes cheaper here.

I know they sell loads of bikes in the U.S. and +25% is going to sting.

[RichTT]

Well the good news is that playing cards imported from the US are only getting a 10% increase... At least I can still feed my cardboard addiction

[Fire99]

RichTT said:

Well the good news is that playing cards imported from the US are only getting a 10% increase... At least I can still feed my cardboard addiction

Well personally I feel particularly aggrieved as I was just about to purchase a "Plasma cleaner machines that remove organic contaminants from electron microscopy specimens and specimen holders" but they've gone an upped the duty by 50%...

Those pesky electron microscopy specimens will be filthy now..

[Felters]

matthias73 said:

If a Harley street 750 is made in India, then imported to the UK, is it exempt?

Factories in Brazil and Thailand as well. Plus contractors factories just about everywhere including the EU. So I imagine it'll be a lot more complicated than just whacking 25% on everything. It could be that this will actually accelerate the shift of HD manufacturing to outside the US.

And if you are reading this on an iPhone... I really have no idea how a tariff would work on one of those.

PS A lot of the tariffs that are being put on US products are aimed at states that swung to to Trump in 2016 - like Wisconsin. There are mid-term elections in the Autumn and the hope is that he'll change his approach for fear of losing seats in states where he only had a small lead.

[Flumpo]

Felters said:

matthias73 said:

If a Harley street 750 is made in India, then imported to the UK, is it exempt?

Factories in Brazil and Thailand as well. Plus contractors factories just about everywhere including the EU. So I imagine it'll be a lot more complicated than just whacking 25% on everything. It could be that this will actually accelerate the shift of HD manufacturing to outside the US.

And if you are reading this on an iPhone... I really have no idea how a tariff would work on one of those.

PS A lot of the tariffs that are being put on US products are aimed at states that swung to to Trump in 2016 - like Wisconsin. There are mid-term elections in the Autumn and the hope is that he'll change his approach for fear of losing seats in states where he only had a small lead.

So if an iPhone is made in China then its exempt as it’s not imported from America?

This likely reduces the amount of products actually hit. That’s probably why the best the news seem to be able to come up with is peanut butter and jack daniels.

Volvo are not just building the s60 in the USA are they?! From I can see they are.

[Shadow R1]

I worked in the textile industry for a few years, in the early 2000's.
At first the factory's supply came from Portugal, with some changes in the local law that stopped.
It then moved to India, however that had extensive import restrictions so the producer got an office in Spain and registered as a company there.
The trucks had to go through Spain in order to be allowed here.
That loophole closed, so the production moved to Turkey.
After I left, it moved again to China.

I one point didn't some bikes come in without engines fitted, then got finished here to get round an import tax ?

[rodericb]

Here we are: http://investor.harley-davidson.com/node/17401/htm...

Eating the increase until they move production overseas.

[bimsb6]

Shadow R1 said:

I worked in the textile industry for a few years, in the early 2000's.
At first the factory's supply came from Portugal, with some changes in the local law that stopped.
It then moved to India, however that had extensive import restrictions so the producer got an office in Spain and registered as a company there.
The trucks had to go through Spain in order to be allowed here.
That loophole closed, so the production moved to Turkey.
After I left, it moved again to China.

I one point didn't some bikes come in without engines fitted, then got finished here to get round an import tax ?

That may have been the moto guzzi co uno , that was assembled by triumph

[bimsb6]

rodericb said:

Here we are: http://investor.harley-davidson.com/node/17401/htm...

Eating the increase until they move production overseas.

I haven’t read all of that but just seen on tv over here ( i am in montana at the moment) that harley are going to open a plant in europe .

[Rick1.8t]

Brilliant, so Trump starts a trade war in an attempt to improve the situation as he sees it and in doing so forces some production out of the USA thus achieving the exact opposite.

The difference is, a tariff can be rolled back with the flick of a pen, Harley moving production will not be so easy to reverse neither will finding jobs for the people that will obviously be put out of work as a result.

Maga.