Donald Trump Again Takes Aim At India’s Tariffs On Harley Davidson Motorcycles

New York: US President Donald Trump has again taken aim at India’s tariffs on Harley Davidson motorcycles ahead of his meeting with his “very good friend” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asserted that they were working on reducing them.

The 50 per cent duty on Harley Davidson bikes imported into India is “unacceptable”, Trump said on Monday when he phoned into a popular business TV programme.

He said that he had spoken to Modi about the 100 per cent tariff that India had been charging on the bike and “he reduced it by 50 per cent with one phone call. I said it’s still unacceptable because it is 50 per cent versus nothing. It’s still unacceptable. And they’re working on it”.

Trump and Modi are expected to meet in Osaka, Japan, during the G-20 Summit on June 28 and 29.

Defending his worldwide tariff war strategy, Trump reverted back to the Harley Davidson motorcycle — an icon for a large segment of his voter base — during his call to CNBC’s Squawk Box programme just as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is preparing an economy-themed visit to New Delhi.

Recalling his Harley Davidson episode, the US President said: “You look at India, a very good friend of mine, Prime Minister Modi, you take a look at what they have done, 100 per cent tax on a motorcycle. We charge them nothing. So, when Harley sends it over there, they have 100 per cent tax. When they send it, they make a tremendous number of motorcycles. When they send them, no tax”. (IANS)

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