zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Beyond Cars
/
Harley-Davidson on Trump's Trade War: 'We Believe in a Fair Playing Field'
Harley-Davidson on Trump's Trade War: 'We Believe in a Fair Playing Field'-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:14:05

President Donald Trump and Harley-Davidson have been feuding ever since Harley said it was going to overseas because of Trump’s trade war. But it’s been mostly one-sided, as Harley has repeatedly declined to comment on the situation even after Trump a Harley boycott. Until today, that is.

The occasion was Harley’s 115th anniversary event in Milwaukee, where company executives touted its upcoming electronic bike and its plans to try and enlist millions of new riders , Baby Boomers, age out.

Dave Cotteleer, vice president and managing director for the U.S. market, spoke first, after a question and a long and awkward pause.

“Harley-Davidson is about inclusion. Harley-Davidson is about togetherness. Harley-Davidson is about community. Harley-Davidson is about freedom,” Cotteleer said in part. “We, as a company, we strive to be absolutely apolitical, because what’s important to us is that spirit of togetherness and riding. That’s what this celebration is about, and that’s what we’re focused on this weekend.”

Later, Marc McAllister, vice president and managing director of international sales, reiterated that Harley was an “apolitical organization” but was a bit more explicit on the trade war.

“We believe in a fair playing field for all competitors in the marketplace, so we’ve been working with the administration here as well as the administrations in other countries to try and strive for a fair playing field,” McAllister said, referring to the tariffs.

If Harley’s been reluctant to comment on the situation until now, it’s easy enough to see why, as many of the riders coming in for the celebration are also Trump supporters, with Trump paraphernalia not hard to come by. (A lot of that is detailed in this recent story that goes into the challenge Harley faces, coming up against a president heavily supported by probably the bulk of its customers.)

Still, the company wants to survive by expanding sales overseas. That’s something which the tariffs have complicated hugely, as Harley was specifically targeted by the European Union— hit the heartland, and Trump’s base.

McAllister basically said what every automaker has told the Trump administration, the “fair playing field” here being, presumably, free trade. But Harley is Harley, an American icon, just out here trying to survive even without getting into a fight with Trump. McAllister also defended moving some of Harley’s production overseas.

“Obviously, we would like nothing more than to build every motorcycle in the United States if we had that [option],” he said. “We are continuing to focus on building motorcycles in the United States for the United States and as a business we have to make tough choices to make sure we are competitive in markets outside the United States.”

And while these are Harley’s first public remarks since for months on the issue, they largely echo what it’s CEO said in an internal memo by CNBC a couple weeks ago.

These are all reasonable things to say and do, but Harley has probably found that it’s uncomfortable feud with Trump is asymmetrical, since all Trump has to do is tweet to stir things up. Like this a few weeks ago:

Where do we go from here? A new Trump tweet is probably just around the corner, even if the tariffs likely won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Beyond Cars
String Of Boeing Failures Continues With 737-800 Flight Turning Back With Cracked Cockpit Windshield
String Of Boeing Failures Continues With 737-800 Flight Turning Back With Cracked Cockpit Windshield
In the wake of recent major , including , , and the debacle that was , it isn’t a good time for further failures by the company. that would , an unrelated 737-800 with a cracked windshield, became international news this weekend. The flight took off from Sapporo-New Chitose...
Jul 15, 2025
Marshmallow Treats Ended Up On The Royal Air Force's No-Fly List
Marshmallow Treats Ended Up On The Royal Air Force's No-Fly List
Over in the United Kingdom, there’s a certain dessert known as a “teacake” — or, as a British friend kindly informed me, it’s more accurately known as a “Tunnock” in Scotland. Basically, the food in question for this particular story are actually a cookie base topped with marshmallow, coated...
Jul 15, 2025
Aircraft Touch Tips During Blizzard At Japanese Airport
Aircraft Touch Tips During Blizzard At Japanese Airport
As at , its port side wing the starboard vertical stabilizer of bound for Hong Kong. This comes at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, and . “Our aircraft, which was stationary at the time with no customers nor crew onboard, was struck by a Korean Air A330 which was taxiing past,”...
Jul 15, 2025
Crystal Chunks Are Bursting Through The Road In China
Crystal Chunks Are Bursting Through The Road In China
A video of what looks like quartz breaking through the surface of a is making the rounds on . I don’t get over there much, being suspicious of the Chinese over concerns of it spying on its users, as the reports. OK, fine. Actually, I just don’t get the humor...
Jul 15, 2025
Deadliest Train In America Kills 3 People In 2 Separate Collisions At The Same Crossing
Deadliest Train In America Kills 3 People In 2 Separate Collisions At The Same Crossing
operate between Orlando and Miami and hold the unwelcome distinction of being both the first intra-city high speed rail in the U.S. and the , by far. After three people died at a single grade crossing in two separate incidents last week it seems the feds are finally perking...
Jul 15, 2025
2023 Zero DSR/X: The Bike Of The Future, But Not Our Future
2023 Zero DSR/X: The Bike Of The Future, But Not Our Future
The world, in 2023, is cyberpunk. We’ve got the , the , and the that keeps the and the . But in cyberpunk media, people are always riding . Why are we stuck with the same bikes we’ve always had? , it seems, wants to address this grievous wrong....
Jul 15, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved