New Delhi. After the victory of Donald Trump in the US Presidential Elections, the issue of Harley-Davidson has once again come into discussion. In fact, Donald Trump has many times raised the issue of reducing the import duty on Harley-Davidson bikes in India. Even before the US presidential elections in 2020, Trump had vocally opposed India’s imposition of heavy import duty on Harley-Davidson bikes and had also threatened to take strict action against India after coming back to power. Harley-Davidson is facing lack of sales in many international markets including America. Now after Trump returns to power, the situation of the company is expected to improve.
Harley-Davidson’s share in the Indian two-wheeler market is very small. The company has only 5000 employees in America, but the bike manufacturer has an important role in the India-US trade war. Donald Trump has many times opposed the heavy taxes on American-made bikes in countries like India and Brazil and has called it unfair trade practice.
When Trump threatened
During his tenure as US President, Trump had described India as a “taxing king” and in May 2019 had ended the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that gave preferential treatment to India in the US market.
In an interview given to Larry Kudlow of ‘Fox Business News’ in August 2023, Trump had raised questions on India’s tax rates, calling them extremely high. Trump had said, “I want an equal tax system. India charges high taxes. I have seen this with Harley-Davidson (motorcycles). I also said that how are you in a place like India? They impose taxes up to 100 percent, 150 percent and 200 percent.
Trump had said in a threatening tone that if India is taxing us, we will also tax them. He had also raised questions on the tax system of India as well as Brazil.
Why is there heavy tax on Harley-Davidson bikes?
In India, the company sells bikes in the form of Completely Built Unit (CBU) and Knocked Down Unit (CKD) which are brought to India from outside. The Government of India imposes more than 100% import duty on imported bikes. However, while revising the import duty in 2019, the government reduced the import tax on CBU bikes from 100% to 50%. At the same time, import duty on CKD bikes has been increased from 10% to 15%. Due to high import duty, foreign bikes become expensive in India, which affects the sales.
Harley is making bikes with Hero
Harley-Davidson has changed its business strategy in India by partnering with Hero MotoCorp. The company launched the X440 bike in India in July last year in collaboration with Hero MotoCorp. This is a single cylinder 440cc engine capacity bike which has been specially designed for the Indian market. This is the company’s first single cylinder engine bike. The company has launched it at an ex-showroom price of just Rs 2,39,500.
Tag: auto news, bike news
first published : November 6, 2024, 5:31 pm IST
