President Donald Trump is attempting to decrease tariffs on American goods entering India, and this week specifically cited Harley-Davidson as a company that would benefit from the change.
Trump visited India earlier this week and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although the two leaders discussed trade, among other subjects, a deal was not reached.
“India is probably the nation with the highest tariffs in the world,” Trump said told the press after meeting with leading Indian chief executives. “We have to stop that. I think we are understanding each other. Harley Davidson has to pay tremendous tariffs in India. I just said that is unfair and we are working it out.”
Currently, India charges a customs duty of 50% on completely built two-wheelers, which was cut down from 100% in 2018. Additionally, there is a 28% goods and services tax on bikes sold to consumers and an additional cess of 3%, making the total tariff on bikes 81%.
Harley only ships four of its 17 motorcycle models to India, according to Business Today. The company has a factory in Bawal in the Indian state of Haryana, which is one of its only manufacturing facilities outside the U.S. The OEM does not specifically break down sales in India, but its worldwide sales fell 4.3% to 218,273 units year over year during the fourth quarter of 2019.
The U.S. and India have been negotiating to solidify a trade deal for the past several years but have yet to come to an agreement.
