President Trump expressed displeasure after hearing of Harley's plans to increase bike production in other countries

On June 15, we all heard how Harley-Davidson is considering ramping up production overseas to keep costs down if the Trump Administration's disastrous tariffs go into effect. As expected, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over this news. Once the news was out, President Trump rushed to Twitter to make his feelings known.

CHECK OUT: Opinion: Harley to Move Production Overseas to Avoid Tariffs

Harley-Davidson, as we know, currently builds bikes in Australia, Brazil, India, and Thailand. Those bikes are built primarily for sale in their local markets and, aside from the Street line, aren't imported and sold here in the States. Perhaps POTUS missed the briefing on that bit of info before hitting Twitter.

CHECK OUT: Hard Times Kick Harley-Davidson in the Butt Yet Again

There's more, of course. The President went on to tell Harley-Davidson that, despite the proposed tariffs raising the price of every raw material that goes into a Harley, that the Motor Company would not be affected by them.

“I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the E.U., which has hurt us badly on trade, down $151 Billion. Taxes just a Harley excuse - be patient!”

CHECK OUT: Harley-Davidson Sales Drop Again in Third Quarter of 2017

We're not sure how patient Harley-Davidson can be, honestly. According to Bloomberg, Harley's U.S. sales have dropped every quarter since Q1 2015. In the first quarter of 2018, sales dropped more than they had in five years. Now, looking down the barrel of increased production costs and export fees, ramping up production in other countries and slowing it here seems like good business sense. Time will tell.

Source: Bloomberg

Photo: Getty Images

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