US tariff
Are the Harleys more expensive now?
Harley Davidson under pressure: The EU reacts to Donald Trump’s restrictive foreign trade policy. This also hits the popular US bikes hard.
In March, the US President Donald Trump’s trade-dispute added tariffs from 25 percent to steel and aluminum imports from the EU, from April 3. 25 percent for cars will be added. Brussels promptly responded to some US products with counter-tariffs from 50 percent. From mid-April, they also meet the manufacturer Harley-Davidson. There are currently six percent inches for their models, and the 50 percentage points would come on top.
Price increase up to 4000 euros expected
It is still unclear to how much the prices of the already expensive motorcycles (from 16,000 euros) will increase. Trading experts estimate that an average of more than 4,000 euros per copy could be on average. The German sales had only given a price guarantee by March 31. Around 8,700 machines were sold in Germany in 2024.
The retribution game is not new. Trump had already occupied Europe with higher taxes in June 2018. Here, too, the EU reacted to US goods with higher tariffs. At Harleys, they climbed from 6 to 31 percent. This led to an average price increase of around 2000 euros.
Harleys from Thailand are US Harleys
At that time, Harley management decided to move some of the production from the United States to Thailand, among other things, to avoid the punitive tariffs and to remain competitive on the EU market. The EU continued to evaluate the products from there as US goods: Each Harley over 500 cubic centimeters displacement is considered a US harley, regardless of where it is built. It was not until 2021 under President Joe Biden.
For customers, there is displeasure in forums about the price increase. A consumer campaign called “Buyfromeu” runs on the Internet via the Reddit platform – where it is cheaper. There, for example, it is recommended to buy a BMW R 18 instead of a Harley-Davidson Low Rider in the future.
Harley Davidson weakens in sales and profits
It is difficult to imagine that Harley does without a juicy price increase in Europe. The company, led by the former Puma boss Jochen Zeitz, suffers economic hardship. Last year the turnover collapsed by eleven percent, the profit slipped by a good third.
Source: Stern
