This would cost the company about $90 million to $100 million annually, the manufacturer said, adding that it was striving to absorb extra costs rather than pass them on to customers in the medium-term. “Harley-Davidson believes the tremendous cost increase, if passed onto its dealers and retail customers, would have an immediate and lasting detrimental impact to its business in the region,” it said in the filing. In order to avoid the impact of higher EU tariffs on its sales, the company also announced that it would be “implementing a plan to shift production of motorcycles for EU destinations from the US to its international facilities.”
The Milwaukee-based company sold almost 40,000 motorcycles in the EU last year, generating revenue second only to the United States. Donald Trump has repeatedly used the company as an example of how European import tariffs hurt US producers. Yet Harley-Davidson had previously warned that the escalating tariffs spat would lead to an even higher burden for the company. The company said ramping up production at non-US plants, which are located in India, Brazil and Thailand, would require additional investment and take at least nine to 18 months to complete. It also said it hoped to limit the cost from higher EU tariffs to between $30 million to $45 million in the meantime.
