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President Donald Trump meets Harley Davidson Chief Executive Officer Matthew Levatich on the occasion of his meeting with Harley Davidson leaders and union representatives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC DC, February 2, 2017.
Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images
While President Donald Trump's international trade war is raging, Harley Davidson is attempting to mitigate the damage caused by EU-imposed retaliatory tariffs on US motorcycles costing society about $ 100 million a year. said Monday CEO Matt Levatich.
"Europe is the big problem of the company, we cover about $ 100 million a year to protect our business in Europe, protect our market share, protect our volume, protect the viability of our distribution channel", said Levatich. said on CNBC's Squawk Alley.
"Obviously, we can not wait for something to happen, we must act to make it happen," he added.
Harley was put under the spotlight of Trump's trade war last June after the company announced that it would move production of its European products out of the United States due to retaliatory tariffs. The company did not transfer jobs abroad, but Harley said it was only moving the production of motorcycles from the EU to its Thai factory. As a result, jobs in the United States have not been affected.
However, some owners of "pigs" have announced their intention to boycott the company for its transfer of European production, obtaining Trump's approval.
Although Levatich said Monday that he thought the company had managed to alleviate the concerns of his clients after Trump's boycott approval, the president's comments "have certainly not helped."
"No company wants such comments," Levatich said of Trump's tweet.
Trump then pledged to "return the favor" to the EU after the company imputed tariffs, at least in part, to a drop in first-quarter profit.
Trump and international leaders have been stuck in a commercial skirmish while the president promises to resolve what he says are unfair trade practices. The European Union has imposed duties on US $ 2.4 billion worth of goods, including motorcycles, after Trump imposed tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from from Europe last year. As a result, EU tariffs on US products increased from 6% to 31%. Rates are expected to increase to 56% in 2021, unless the United States and the European Union can reach an agreement.
EU retaliatory tariffs have had a direct impact on Harley, changing the way the company makes its decisions, said Levatich. Harley's first quarter profit in 2019 fell by almost 27%, partly because of European rights.
Levatich said the company plans to launch new products "that fit very well in strong and growing international segments, especially in Europe". He said that it is important for the company to have the European distribution channel "to ensure that these tariffs will be mitigated if they do not disappear otherwise".
Although Trump's initial attack on Harley exerted political pressure on the company, Levatich said that the president's remarks had not harmed American companies, adding that Harley was holding more than half of the US industry market share. the facts are "and that ways must be found to mitigate the impact" until tariffs disappear by other political means. "
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the amount of EU pricing costs charged by Harley. It's about 100 million dollars a year.
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